The risk of severe thunderstorms, some capable of triggering tornadoes, will expand along the Eastern Seaboard and reach across much of the southern United States on Thursday, AccuWeather meteorologists warn.
While the intensity of the thunderstorms may not be as ferocious as many that erupted in the Midwest and Great Plains earlier in the week, there is still the likelihood that some of the strongest storms will be capable of producing a few tornadoes. Approximately 80 million people live within the anticipated zone of severe weather on Thursday and Thursday night.
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All it takes is one brief tornado to strike a populated area, which leads to great risks to lives and property. And, like most prior days this week, there is the potential for multiple tornadoes to occur. With each passing day, the storms have pushed into progressively more densely populated areas, and that trend will continue on Thursday.
One area in Thursday's severe weather where a few tornadoes may tend to focus will be from central and eastern Virginia to central and eastern North Carolina.
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"The main threats from the thunderstorms in the East will be high winds and hail," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Adam Douty said.
The major metro areas and the airport hubs most likely to be affected by severe weather include Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Atlanta and Dallas. As storms develop over or approach these areas and many regional secondary hubs, ground stops can lead to lengthy airline delays and possible flight cancellations.
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"It has been nearly a month since much of Virginia had severe storms," Douty said, "April 15 was the last day with widespread wind and hail in the state and the mid-Atlantic region in general."
Thursday will be an active day with severe weather from Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia to Florida and Texas.
As the storms erupt, downpours alone can lead to substantial travel delays. Motorists should be alert for changing weather conditions, including rapidly rising water on some area streets, highways and underpasses.
Farther to the north, a wedge of cool air will protect areas from Boston to New York City and perhaps the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas from severe weather on Thursday. The cool air will occupy the lower part of the atmosphere, so any thunderstorms and high winds will be forced to occur several thousand feet up and not at ground level.
The likelihood of severe weather will continue to move southeastward on Friday. To close out the workweek for millions of Americans, the severe weather will focus on an area from southern Alabama, central Georgia and southern South Carolina to central Florida.
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On Friday and Friday evening, the main threats will be from storms packing high winds and hail. Some of the strongest storms may also trigger tornadoes or waterspouts.
People spending time on area beaches and the central Florida theme parks should be alert to rapidly changing weather conditions during the afternoon and evening hours.
As the Southeast region gets a break from thunderstorms from late Friday to the weekend, a vigorous disturbance will drop southeastward across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast.
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"This system is likely to produce some locally gusty thunderstorms with small hail, but widespread damaging winds and hail are not likely," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Brett Anderson said.
The system will drop quickly across the Midwest from Friday to Saturday then slow down as it pivots across the Northeast on Saturday and Sunday, where it is most likely to spoil many outdoor plans for Mother's Day weekend.
The small disturbance will mark a change in the weather pattern, with massive multiday severe weather outbreaks taking an extended break over much of the Central states.
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However, trouble in the form of torrential downpours and drenching thunderstorms will set up along much of the Gulf Coast states, especially in Texas and Louisiana, from later in the weekend to the middle of next week. Enough rain may fall to renew flooding in Texas and trigger new flooding elsewhere in parts of the Interstate 10 corridor.
