Severe storms may cut power, hinder travel in eastern US at week's end
Storms that have focused on the south-central United States much of this week will turn their fury on part of the Atlantic Seaboard from Friday to Saturday.
This doorbell footage from Austin, Texas, shows how quickly conditions can deteriorate in the midst of a powerful storm passing through on May 28. Debris can be seen flying through the howling winds.
As drier air begins to push in from the north and west, the squeeze will significantly kick up the intensity of severe weather along the East coast into Friday night with additional potent storms to erupt Saturday, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
The greatest threats from the storms into Friday night will be from high winds, several tornadoes and large hail. However, some areas may experience flash flooding as well.
Thunderstorms have been quite active in the southern United States all week. Massive hail has occurred in some cases with stones the size of baseballs, softballs and even larger.
Perhaps the biggest severe weather period of the week will occur from Friday afternoon to Friday night. AccuWeather meteorologists have issued a high risk of severe thunderstorms, which means there is a widespread threat for severe weather in the zone from the eastern Carolinas to southeastern Virginia.
Along with the likelihood of strong wind gusts that can snap trees and take down power lines into Friday evening, the most potent of storms can bring damaging hail.
The greatest threat of powerful wind gusts along a solid line of storms will extend across the eastern half of the Carolinas and into east-central Georgia. Multiple tornadoes are possible as well, especially in central and southeastern Virginia.
Just north and west of the greatest severe weather threat, repeating torrential downpours are in store for part of the mid-Atlantic states into Saturday morning.
Urban and small stream flash flooding can occur with rises to follow on some of the rivers over the weekend. Motorists are advised to exercise caution on secondary roads and highways in the event of sudden high water.
The strongest storms Saturday will target the zone from central and eastern North Carolina to southeastern Pennsylvania and central New Jersey. Each of these storms will tend to be small in size but can bring small hail along with brief wind gusts and sudden downpours.
Saturday's storms in the mid-Atlantic zone may not be as intense as those of Friday, but they can reach some of the major metro areas, such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Saturday's storms can still trigger sporadic tree damage and highly localized power outages. Those with flights Saturday afternoon and evening may experience delays until the storms clear the airport vicinity.
Showers and thunderstorms will extend farther to the north and west in the mid-Atlantic states Saturday, while more steady drenching rain is on tap for much of New England.
The push of drier air should give many locations over the South Central states a break during the weekend. That dry push will reach much of the Southeastern states Sunday.
Temperatures will trend upward in the East as June progresses, but there will still be more rounds of showers and thunderstorms as the busy pattern continues. Rain-free weather is not likely to last more than two or three days in a row.
The cycle of severe weather will return next week with the first new round of severe thunderstorms to erupt over portions of the southern Plains.
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