Severe storms will shift focus to the South, Eastern Seaboard into the weekend
Thunderstorms will continue their march toward the Gulf and East coasts from Friday into Saturday, as AccuWeather forecasters warn more storms containing strong winds, hail and tornadoes are possible.
Severe thunderstorms will advance across the southern and eastern U.S. into this weekend.
Severe thunderstorms will advance into the southern and eastern United States into this weekend, continuing a multiday outbreak of severe weather that has already spawned multiple tornadoes and damaging thunderstorms this week.
The storm system and cold front responsible for the continued severe thunderstorm threat is the same one that produced a deadly tornado in Oklahoma on Wednesday and sparked more gusty storms and twisters into Thursday night from Texas to the Midwest as it continued to move to the east.
Ahead of the storm and front, a warm and somewhat humid air mass helped provide fuel for thunderstorms on Friday evening over the lower Mississippi Valley and into the East Coast on Saturday, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. Destructive wind gusts of 60-70 mph, damaging hail, torrential downpours and even a few tornadoes will all be possible across more than a dozen states.
Threat focused on part of South-Central states Friday evening
While thunderstorms in the Plains waned in intensity late on Thursday night, they continued to march south and east into Friday night, sparking reports of hail and wind damage in Mississippi and northern Alabama.
Thunderstorms then marched across parts of Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky overnight on Friday. Even though those storms were not severe, they did deliver drenching downpours as AccuWeather meteorologists predicted, with Nashville picking up over 0.70 inches of rain through the evening hours.
Heavy rain and strong winds were the biggest concern with storms on Friday. However, there was an unconfirmed report of a tornado near Bankston in northwestern Alabama, with trees and large branches observed across a local road.
Severe storms will rumble toward the East Coast from Saturday to Saturday night
The system triggering the severe weather will finally move off the East Coast later this weekend but not before bringing one more day of strong thunderstorms to parts of the Southeast and mid-Atlantic on Saturday.
"As the cold front moves east of the Appalachians and collides with the unseasonably warm air in place across the East on Saturday afternoon, thunderstorms can once again bring damaging winds and hail," said Douty. "The greatest risk will be across the central and eastern Carolinas and into Virginia."
Damaging winds of 60 to 70 mph — with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 80 mph and hail the size of quarters (an inch in diameter) or greater — will again be a big concern for those with outdoor weekend plans, but a greater risk of tornadoes may also exist on Saturday in comparison to Friday.
Forecasters say that even though the greatest threat for severe weather will focus on cities such as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Washington, D.C., areas farther north in the mid-Atlantic won't avoid the storm risk entirely. However, some limitations could exist in regard to the severity of the storms there.
"Clouds will help to limit the instability, or the amount of energy available for thunderstorm development, from northern Virginia north to eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey," said Douty. "Despite that, storms can still bring gusty winds and downpours [to these locations]."
"Even where no thunder and lightning occur, winds can be strong enough to knock over trees and cause power outages in portions of the central Appalachians to the upper mid-Atlantic coast into Saturday night and on into New England on Sunday," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. "Motorists venturing out could encounter flooded roads and sudden poor visibility."
Those who are making outdoor plans in the East on Saturday because of the recent return of nice, warmer weather will want to stay weather aware and be prepared to take action and head to shelter should severe storms threaten. Having the ability to receive timely weather warnings, such as from the AccuWeather app, is a must.
Much cooler, quieter weather will return to much of the South and East behind the thunderstorms into Sunday and early next week, forecasters say.
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