Stormy weather to jeopardize Father's Day weekend plans in Northeast, Ohio Valley
Two 18-year-olds were killed Thursday afternoon when they were struck by lightning while fishing at a lake in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania.
Outdoor plans and sporting events will be in jeopardy as lightning risks and downpours spread from the Ohio Valley to the Northeast through midweek.
Dry weather and low humidity started off the weekend across much of the East; however, that has all changed.
Showers and thunderstorms pressed from the Ohio Valley to the interior Northeast and southern New England during Saturday night.
More rounds of wet weather will sweep from west to east throughout Sunday.
While the entire day may not be a washout, a shower or thunderstorm can disrupt outdoor activities for a fraction of Father's Day from Boston to New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
The thunderstorms are expected to remain north of Richmond, Virginia, but residents will still have to deal with sticky conditions.
Showers and thunderstorms may be more numerous farther west.
"Some of the thunderstorms will produce locally heavy downpours," AccuWeather Meteorologist Rob Richards said
Worse than disrupting hikes, games or barbecues, the heaviest downpours can trigger localized flash flooding. A few thunderstorms may also become severe with damaging winds. The greatest risk for this to occur may be around Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and surrounding communities on Sunday afternoon.
Whether storms become severe or not, all residents celebrating Father's Day outdoors are reminded to seek shelter as soon as thunder is heard.
Even in the absence of severe weather warnings, any thunderstorm can produce a deadly lightning strike.
A young man and woman were struck and killed by lightning when fishing at Mammoth Park outside of Pittsburgh on Thursday--the first lightning fatalities in Pennsylvania since Aug. 13, 2016.
Lightning dangers, flash flooding, damaging thunderstorms and outdoor plans in jeopardy will remain the theme this week as storms may track from nation's midsection into a part of the Northeast on a nearly daily basis.
Showers and thunderstorms will generally erupt along a corridor of high humidity from the Ohio Valley to the mid-Atlantic and into southern New England but may spread farther north at times.
The flood risk will progressively increase in areas that get hit repeatedly by downpours day after day. Through early week, AccuWeather meteorologists are most concerned for a more widespread flood risk to unfold across the upper Ohio Valley.
Download the free AccuWeather app to know when showers and thunderstorms are expected in your community. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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