In addition to disrupting outdoor activities over the holiday weekend, thunderstorms will bring lightning dangers and the risk of damage from portions of the Midwest to the Northeast through Sunday.
People from the lower Great Lakes and Ohio Valley to the central Appalachians will need to keep an eye to the sky while cooking out, swimming, hiking or attending parades and memorial ceremonies over the holiday weekend.
After severe storms spawned a few tornadoes in eastern Iowa and western Illinois on Friday, AccuWeather meteorologists expect a new round of severe weather to ignite from central Illinois to central New York and Pennsylvania, mainly during Saturday afternoon and evening.
Indianapolis is included in this corridor, where numerous festivities are ongoing for the Indy 500.
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Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y.; Pittsburgh and Erie, Pa.; and Morgantown, W.Va., may also face the feisty storms, with the primary risks being hail, damaging winds and downpours.
However, the necessary ingredients may come together for an isolated tornado or two to spin up, mainly near the eastern Great Lakes.
"While the worst of the severe weather is expected around the southern Great Lakes, showers and thunderstorms can spread over New England and the mid-Atlantic Saturday afternoon and night," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said.
Sunday is expected to bring about yet another risk of thunderstorms and severe weather."Another round of thunderstorms that may ignite around Iowa and northern Missouri later Saturday may sweep across the Lower Midwest states and into the mid-Atlantic Sunday into Sunday night," Pydynowski said.
Within this corridor, areas from central Indiana through Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, northern Virginia and western Maryland may be at greatest risk for the storms to turn severe.Similar to Saturday, all modes of severe weather will once again be possible, with damaging winds, downpours and hail being the most common characteristics of the storms.
The storms can wander into the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metro areas late Sunday afternoon and evening."Even in the absence of severe weather, anyone with plans over this extended holiday weekend is reminded to seek shelter as soon as thunder is heard to avoid being struck by lightning," Pydynowski said.
Motorists who encounter the storms on the roadways can anticipate reduced visibility from the downpours and blowing from vehicles, in addition to a heightened risk of hydroplaning while traveling at highway speeds
These poor driving conditions may be experienced at times this weekend on stretches of interstates 65, 69, 70, 79, 80, 81 and 90.
