BOSTON – A stormy Friday afternoon is on tap for the interior Northeast as thunderstorms bubble and develop amid an unstable atmosphere.
Storms are first forming around the Buffalo and northern New York area but will strengthen as they push to the east and southeast through the afternoon.
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect until 8 p.m. ET, covering 16 million people from central Pennsylvania through Upstate New York and Massachusetts – including Boston – and into Vermont and New Hampshire.
The thunderstorms will be hit-and-miss in nature, but stronger cells could bring damaging wind gusts of 45-65 mph that can topple trees and knock out power. In addition, hail stones up to a quarter or ping-pong-ball size are possible. A minor tornado threat exists for the Hudson Valley into southwestern New England.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has placed the area in a Level 2 out of 5 on its severe weather risk scale.
Thunderstorms will eventually push into the I-95 corridor through New York City and Boston by late evening or early Friday night but will have lost some strength as daytime heating wanes.