A cold front will advance through the Eastern Seaboard on Friday, placing a threat for flash flooding and strong-to-severe storms over the Northeast.
A line of strong thunderstorms was already rolling through the northeastern I-95 corridor early Friday morning. In addition to frequent lightning and heavy downpours, thunderstorm-related gusts to 60 mph were possible.
A gust hit 47 mph in Washington, D.C., with a gust to 45 mph in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Spotters reported a tree fell into a home near Eagle, Pennsylvania. All three New York area airports issued a ground stop just before 6 a.m. as the thunderstorms approached the Big Apple.
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A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was in effect from central New Jersey south through Delaware into Baltimore, Maryland, through 8 a.m. EDT.
“This is Round 1 as it makes its way across the East Coast,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Jane Minar.
After a brief break in those storms’ wake, the atmosphere will become somewhat unstable as an area of low pressure swirls through southern Quebec and a weak front pushes across New England later Friday morning into Friday afternoon. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will redevelop ahead of a weak front that should advance slowly eastward through the day.
Isolated damaging winds, hail and heavy rains may occur with the strongest thunderstorms, so flash flooding will be a concern. The heaviest rainfall is expected in a region between the Adirondack and White Mountains, where forecast models show 1-3 inches falling through Saturday morning.
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Other communities included in the heightened potential flood alert zone include Philadelphia, New York and Burlington, Vermont.
The soil is already heavily saturated from the southern to central Appalachians to the northern mid-Atlantic and Northeast where any storm has the potential to produce more flooding.
This will be especially true across portions of Vermont and far northeastern New York state where catastrophic and deadly flooding was reported last week.
Montpelier, Vermont, saw devastating flooding that hasn’t been seen since the Great Flood of 1927.
In addition, there is a low risk of a tornado.
“As (the low) continues its trek across the region today, we are going to see a bit more of a way of spin across portions of the Northeast and that’s going to pick up that threat of an isolated tornado or two in the afternoon,” Minar said.
Showers and thunderstorms will move out Friday evening, and the region should dry out Friday night.