Severe weather will flourish as heat dome breaks down
As a more routine pattern of summer heat and humidity follow a massive heat wave, many areas will notice an increase in thunderstorm activity and new areas may be affected by severe weather that have experienced little.
From the Upper Midwest down to the High Plains, windy storms provided some heat relief from June 23-24.
While extreme heat will be on the wane in the coming days, the atmosphere will remain ripe for thunderstorms--some of which will become severe for several hours during the afternoon and evening hours in various parts of the central and eastern United States, AccuWeather meteorologists advise.
As the heat dome shrinks and weakens, thunderstorms within the lingering hot and humid air will become more organized. Meanwhile, thunderstorms on the outer rim of the heat will continue but also make significant advances to the east and south.
This means that many areas that have dodged thunderstorms over much of the last five days or so may get in on brief torrential downpours, gusty winds and flurries of lightning strikes.
For example, some residents in State College, Pennsylvania, were greeted by a thunderstorm on their way to work or having breakfast Wednesday morning--a sign that the heat dome, which brought rain-free weather for several days, is wavering.
Most of the thunder and downpours into the weekend will focus on common sources of summer storms like weak fronts, sea breezes, ripples in the jet stream and mountains.
Lightning flashes above the grandstands prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Pocono Raceway, Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
The following days and regions are expected to have a more focused area of severe weather, with storms capable of producing high wind gusts, frequent lightning strikes, flooding downpours, hail, and, in a few rare cases, a tornado.
Wednesday evening's storms will become severe in parts of the Appalachians, Atlantic Seaboard and into parts of Ohio, Indiana and southern Michigan. The risk includes Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Charlotte and Atlanta--essentially all the major airport hubs--so expect airline delays in the afternoon and evening.
Farther west, severe thunderstorms will also target parts of the central and northern Plains into Wednesday night. The severe weather risk includes the Denver and Chicago metro areas.
On Thursday, the severe weather threat will continue over portions of the Plains and Midwest, with the zone covering the metro areas of Topeka, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines and Davenport, Iowa; and Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin.
More locally severe thunderstorms are forecast for the East as well Thursday afternoon and evening.
Much of the storms in the East Thursday will focus along the Interstate 81 and 85 corridors from Maryland and Virginia to the Florida, Alabama and Mississippi panhandles.
As a push of much cooler air slides in from New England and stalls in part of the mid-Atlantic region, it could downpour for hours in parts of eastern and central Pennsylvania, northeastern Maryland, northern Delaware, southwestern New Jersey and part of the southern tier of New York. Several inches of rain may fall on some communities, which can lead to dangerous and damaging flash flooding.
Another pocket where downpours will continue to repeat will be over portions of the central and northern Plains, part of the Upper Midwest, with Iowa generally smack in the middle. Lamoni, Iowa, has picked up nearly 4.50 inches of rain, with just over 4 inches falling on Imperial, Nebraska, since the start of the week. More is on the way and while that may be good for crops in drought areas, too much can lead to flash flooding.
Looking farther ahead, severe thunderstorms Friday are most likely to occur, at least at a localized level, from central and western Nebraska, northward through the Dakotas, northwestern Minnesota and parts of southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada.
The same boundary between cool air to the east and very warm and humid air to the west will set up over Virginia on Friday, similar to the way it is forecast to develop farther to the north-northeast on Thursday in Pennsylvania. Likewise, the risk of repeating downpours and flash flooding will exist.
While spotty thunderstorms in the Southern and Eastern states can pulse to become briefly severe Saturday afternoon and evening, a greater concentration of severe weather is forecast for parts of the northern Plains once again.
This area could evolve into a large complex of severe weather and begin to cover considerable ground over the North Central states later Saturday night with high winds and torrential downpours.
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