Tireless severe storms to repeat from Plains to mid-Atlantic
Severe thunderstorms will tend to favor two areas on a daily basis into the weekend. One in the mid-Atlantic and the other over the Plains.
Thunderstorms have returned to the Midwest and High Plains this week, with dangerous weather conditions possible.
Travelers and those with outdoor plans will have to do more than just dodge raindrops and lightning bolts in the coming days from parts of the Great Plains to the mid-Atlantic coast, as thunderstorms erupt and become severe in localized areas. The storms will occur ahead of a new heat dome forecast to build over the region.
A broad zone of moisture will persist and be turned over by the July sun. Where ripples in the jet stream or waves of low pressure along a stalled front become involved will be the favored spot for more organized thunderstorm activity above the typical garden-variety summer downpour.
A bolt of lightning strikes before the start of the New York City fireworks show, as seen from Bayonne, New Jersey, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Below is a day-by-day and regional explanation of where AccuWeather meteorologists believe the severe storms may occur.
Storms to linger into Wednesday night
Beginning with the Central states, a sprawling zone of severe thunderstorms with at least widely separated coverage will extend from southeastern Idaho and central Montana to parts of Michigan, the Oklahoma Panhandle and northeastern New Mexico. Within this vast zone will be an area with more general severe thunderstorm activity forecast from northeastern Colorado to western Iowa.
The main threats from storms in this swath will be from damaging hail and wind, as well as localized flash flooding. The AccuWeather Local StormMax™ gust is 90 mph.
Farther east into Wednesday night, there will be a pocket of locally severe storms from much of North Carolina and Virginia to parts of South Carolina, eastern Tennessee and southeastern West Virginia.
The main threats from the storms in this patch will be from high wind gusts and localized flash flooding. The AccuWeather Local StormMax™ gust is 80 mph.
Thursday storms packing damaging hail, wind
A large area of severe weather is forecast for Thursday that includes more than a dozen states in the Plains and Mississippi Valley. Concentrated areas with more general severe weather are forecast from eastern Colorado to southwestern Nebraska, western and central Kansas and southern Missouri.
The main threats in this zone from Thursday afternoon to Thursday night include a few tornadoes, along with the likelihood of storms with damaging hail and wind. The AccuWeather Local StormMax™ gust is 85 mph.
Farther to the east, in the mid-Atlantic states on Thursday, severe thunderstorm activity is forecast from parts of north-central and northeastern North Carolina to southeastern Pennsylvania and central New Jersey.
The main threats will be from strong wind gusts and localized flash flooding.
Friday storms bring flash flooding potential
On Friday, some risk of severe weather is anticipated from eastern Colorado to southeastern Wyoming and northeastern New Mexico to south-central Nebraska, much of Kansas and the northwestern slice of Oklahoma.
The main threats will be from strong wind gusts and flash flooding.
Once again, a bubble of severe weather is forecast for the East on Friday afternoon and evening. The zone with potential will extend from northern North Carolina to southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City.
Severe storms to rumble during the weekend
A few severe thunderstorms are forecast to prowl the zone from northeastern Georgia to much of Virginia on Saturday afternoon and evening.
Once again, the greatest risk from the storms will be from downbursts that can bring localized strong wind gusts and flash flooding.
AccuWeather meteorologists are closely monitoring a zone of repeating downpours in the absence of storms packing high winds or hail. That flash flood risk zone extends across much of the Ohio Valley and into the southern part of the Appalachians.
Despite all the risks from wind, hail and flash flooding, the most common risk to those outdoors will be from lightning. And, it does not take a severe thunderstorm to produce a dangerous strike.
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