A storm system responsible for producing multiple days of severe weather across the south-central and Midwest states, as well as blizzard conditions across the Front Range and central Plains, will bring along one more day of potentially life-threatening weather on Friday.
As the storm continues to lift northeastward into Canada, the threat for strong to severe thunderstorms will also shift eastward. As residents in the Northeast enjoy a warm and unseasonably humid first full day of spring Friday, thunderstorms are expected to tap into the available atmospheric instability in place.
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Prior to the thunderstorm development, remnant showers from Thursday’s thunderstorm activity across the Midwest and Ohio Valley will track through the region into midday. The threat for any locally strong thunderstorms will generally be confined to the afternoon hours as a powerful cold front sweeps through.
Initial thunderstorm development will likely take place across eastern Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York beginning as early as midday.
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Cleveland, Ohio; and Buffalo, New York, could potentially get a gusty thunderstorm ahead of the cold front, but the higher threat will likely be realized just east of those locales.
Regardless of whether or not a thunderstorm rolls over those cities, strong wind gusts associated with the storm system itself will cover a much wider swath of the interior Northeast. At times, gusts of 40-50 mph could make travel difficult at times, especially for high-profile vehicles.
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Although traffic remains generally light with many people working remotely due to COVID-19 concerns, any remaining motorists traveling along interstates 76, 80 and 99 in Pennsylvania can expect windy conditions through much of the day, and may come across rapidly deteriorating conditions as heavy showers and thunderstorms track through during the afternoon hours.
The same threats are also expected across much of New York as well.
The heightened threat for stronger thunderstorms is expected to remain off to the west of the I-95 corridor along the East Coast Friday afternoon. While not as likely, it is possible a few storms will make it to northern New Jersey, eastern New York and the western fringes of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
If thunderstorms manage to make it that far east, they will likely track through during the afternoon rush hour in those locations.
A second target zone for feisty thunderstorm development will also take place across the Deep South.
Showers and thunderstorms will fire up along the same cold front that will sweep through the Northeast. In similar fashion, the threat for stronger storms will increase into the afternoon hours across the South.
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Across this zone, showers and storms may repeatedly track over the same locations, resulting in a more elevated flood threat compared to the thunderstorm activity in the Northeast.
While the month of March hasn’t been as wet compared to January or February in places like Monroe, Louisiana, or Jackson, Mississippi, the ground still remains nearly saturated and larger rivers still remain above-average in terms of water flow.
Widespread flooding is not likely to occur from this event during the day on Friday, but localized reports of flooding will be possible across northern Louisiana, central Mississippi, northern Alabama and western Tennessee.
The threat for thunderstorms will largely come to an end during the evening hours both across the South and in the Northeast. In the wake of the wet weather, a sharp drop in temperatures will filter in across much of the Eastern states into Saturday.
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Aside from a few lingering showers along the Carolina coast into Saturday, most of the eastern United States can expect dry conditions.
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