Severe storms to rattle Ohio Valley, part of Eastern seaboard
After yet another day of severe weather rattled the central United States on Tuesday, more severe storms will erupt over the Midwest and part of the Eastern seaboard into Wednesday night.
"There will be several clusters of violent storms that can journey through parts of the Midwest, central Appalachians and southern mid-Atlantic at midweek," AccuWeather Meteorologist Kyle Elliott said.
Similar to what happened in the Plains the past few days, the main threats from Wednesday's storms will be damaging wind gusts, flooding downpours and large hail, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Ryan Adamson.
One of Wednesday's threat zones will stretch from central Missouri through a large part of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and the western parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland.
"Isolated tornadoes can spin up with this group of storms, especially across parts of Indiana and Ohio," Elliott added.
"These storms will sag southeastward into Wednesday night, with flash flooding and damaging winds as the main risks," Adamson said.
Residents in and around Evansville, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, Indiana; St. Louis; Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, should stay up to date on the latest severe weather watches and warnings.
Since clouds and rain limited heating over much of West Virginia, severe thunderstorms are no longer foreseen over much of that state. However, a few heavy thunderstorms may wonder in at night.
Another batch of storms will affect areas from South Carolina to eastern Maryland and Delaware into Wednesday night.
There is the potential for storms to be rather feisty as they wander through the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore metro areas. However, severe weather is more likely east of these metro areas to near Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia and Dover, Delaware.
Farther south, severe storms are likely to affect portions of the Carolinas with strong wind gusts, hail and flash flooding incidents into Wednesday night
While violent storms will not impact every community in these threat zones, residents throughout the area at risk should make sure they are prepared when severe weather strikes.
Anyone outdoors enjoying the otherwise warm and sunny day should be ready to seek shelter as soon as thunder is heard.
Motorists should be ready to slow down on stretches of Interstates 64, 65, 70, 75, 77, 80, 81 and 90 as the downpours reduce visibility, heighten the risk of hydroplaning and cause delays.
Because the ground across Wednesday's risk area remains saturated from seemingly endless rounds of heavy rain dating back to last summer, it will only take wind gusts of 40-50 mph to down some power lines and trees and cause power outages.
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Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
