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Severe weather, possibly tornadoes headed for Northeast

By Sommer Brokaw
A satellite image Friday shows a storm front moving from the Midwest toward the Northeast, where strong winds, rain, hail and possibly tornadoes could strike this weekend, forecasters said. Image courtesy NOAA
A satellite image Friday shows a storm front moving from the Midwest toward the Northeast, where strong winds, rain, hail and possibly tornadoes could strike this weekend, forecasters said. Image courtesy NOAA

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A low pressure system will push severe thunderstorms from the Midwest to the Northeast Friday, forecasters said.

Strong winds, large hail and a few tornadoes are among the potential threats to the area this weekend.

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The storm front caused tornado damage in Minnesota, as one of six twisters reported in parts of the upper Midwest and the Ohio River Valley, Meteorologist Domenica Davis said.

The eastern Great Lakes, western New England and part of the Ohio Valley are at the greatest risk for severe thunderstorms beginning Friday afternoon.

The National Weather Service issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Friday around Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The squall line will push through to the east early evening Friday and bring wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph, forecasters said. Wind gusts that can knock over trees and power lines are the primary severe weather threats Friday.

"Not a whole lot of rainfall associated with this as this moves to the east, but those winds can be brutal," Davis said.

The front is moving to the Northeast on the 80th anniversary of the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 -- also known as the Long Island express -- which hit southern New England and Long Island with catastrophic wind damage, rain, storm surge and flooding.

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The Category 3 storm had winds as strong as 186 mph, the Blue Hill Observatory in Massachusetts said.

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