After a brief break in the action on Wednesday, parts of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic are once again bracing for more severe weather and heavy rain, which is increasing the risk of flooding across the region due to recent rounds of wet weather.
The FOX Forecast Center says a slow-moving line of showers and thunderstorms will first sweep across portions of the Midwest and Ohio Valley during the day on Thursday and eventually into northern portions of the mid-Atlantic and western parts of the Northeast by Thursday night and into the overnight hours.
The flood risk then shifts deeper into the Northeast and northern New England on Friday.
The FOX Forecast Center says a cold front coming from the west will be the focus of the strong to severe thunderstorms during the afternoon hours on Thursday.
Those storms, according to the FOX Forecast Center, will combine into a strong squall line that will push into parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York later in the day into the evening and overnight hours.
This renewed threat comes after at least five people were killed in Pennsylvania during flash flooding over the weekend. Officials said upwards of 7 inches of rain fell in about 45 minutes near Washington Crossing and the surrounding area of Bucks County, which resulted in rapid flooding and extensive damage.
The line of heavy rain and strong to severe thunderstorms will make their way into eastern portions of the Northeast and New England by early Friday and will begin to weaken.
However, the FOX Forecast Center says more storms are expected to develop during the day on Friday thanks to daytime heating.
While the severe weather threat remains low at this time, the storms will have the potential of producing torrential rain, with some areas picking up an inch or two of rain with some locally higher amounts.
The soil is already heavily saturated from the southern to central Appalachians to the northern mid-Atlantic and Northeast where the slow-moving storms could produce enough rain to lead to more flooding.
This will be especially true across portions of Vermont and far northeastern New York state.
Catastrophic and deadly flooding was reported in parts of New York state and Vermont last week.
Montpelier, Vermont, saw devastating flooding that hasn’t been seen since the Great Flood of 1927.
Because the ground is already heavily saturated, and with more heavy rain expected to push into the region by Friday, the National Weather Service has issued Flood Watches that stretch across the region.
The entire state of Vermont is included in the watch area, as well as portions of northeastern New York State.
Cities under a Flood Watch include Potsdam and Albany in New York, as well as Burlington, Manchester and Brattleboro in Vermont.