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Severe storms to strike Midwest, Northeast through Monday

By Alex Sosnowski, Accuweather.com

Thunderstorms will pulse and become locally severe from Kentucky and southern Indiana, southern New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia, through Monday.

Lightning poses the most widespread risk to people and pets outdoors.

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In some cases, the storms will develop right over a location, rather than move in. Keep alert for rapidly changing weather conditions.

Lightning strike

If you can hear thunder when outdoors, you are at risk for being struck by lightning. Move indoors at the first rumble of thunder. Photo by pixabay

Be sure to seek shelter indoors and away from windows at the first rumble of thunder or flash of lightning. A hard top, metal vehicle can be a safe secondary alternative.

If fishing or on the beach, get away from the water and get indoors.

However, avoid parking or standing under trees, which are most often struck by lightning and at risk for toppling over during storms.

Sunday Severe

Another risk from the storms is isolated strong wind gusts that can break tree limbs, knock over poorly rooted trees and trigger power outages.

Loose items in the yard ranging from patio furniture to trampolines can be sent airborne and cause additional damage.

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Flash flooding can occur at any location where downpours last more than a few minutes.

In this particular setup with repeating showers and thunderstorms, there is an elevated risk of flash flooding in urban areas and along small streams.

A few of the strongest thunderstorms can produce a tornado.

severe mon

While the tornado risk is low for any one given location, the chance of such a storm is greatest from the mid-afternoon to the early evening hours. In some cases, the tornado may be wrapped in rain and difficult to spot by motorists.

The weather pattern has had a history of producing tornadoes from the central Plains to part of the Midwest on Saturday. Preliminary reports suggest that more than a dozen tornadoes occurred from the Dakotas and Iowa to Illinois and Indiana.

Through Monday the same part of the atmosphere that can produce violent storms will extend from the Ohio Valley to part of the mid-Atlantic coast.

A small number of locations may be hit with pea- to golf ball-sized hail as well.

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