Strong Storm Risk Tuesday Cincinnati to Pittsburgh

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

October 1, 2012; 7:55PM,EDT

 

 

 

 

 

While a storm system moving up from the South will be past peak, the system may pack enough punch to bring locally severe thunderstorms to part of the Ohio Valley Tuesday.
Locally damaging thunderstorms will affect part of the South, including the southern Appalachians into Monday evening.
According to Severe Weather Expert Henry Margusity, "As an upper-level disturbance associated with the storms system lifts northward the right conditions could develop to produce a few thunderstorms with high wind gusts, hail and even a short-lived tornado."
The risk area extends from eastern Kentucky to much of West Virginia and central and southern Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania during Tuesday.
Cities that could be impacted by the storms include Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio; Lexington and London, Ky.; Charleston, Huntington and Morgantown, W.Va.; and Pittsburgh, Pa.
Key to the potential of the storms is how much daytime warming occurs.
"If these areas remain cloudy much of the day, there may not be enough energy and rising air to get severe thunderstorms going," Margusity said. "Provided the storms do develop, atmospheric conditions indicate a fair amount of wind shear, which can lead to damaging wind gusts and perhaps a couple of tornadoes."

Because of cloud-cover issues, an large outbreak of severe weather is not expected, but rather only isolated severe storms.
Other thunderstorms will affect the Atlantic Seaboard during Tuesday and a couple of these storms could be heavy and gusty in the I-95 swath from Florida to New York.

"These areas will be the warmest within the storm system's reach, but the main energy will be directed northward toward the upper Ohio Valley, rather than toward the East Coast," Margusity added.
While the storm system is weakening, it will have enough energy and moisture to bring areas of rain into the Northeast Tuesday into Wednesday.