Severe Thunderstorms Shift East Friday (FORECAST)

Jon Erdman
Published: April 10,2015




 
Following destructive tornadoes in the Midwest Thursday, the severe threat shifts to the East on Friday.
(MORE: State-by-State News | Photos)
The year's most widespread severe weather event continues for one more day from the East Coast to the Gulf Coast.
(MORE: Dr. Greg Forbes' TOR:CON Tornado Threat Forecasts)

The meteorological ingredients in play for Friday's severe thunderstorms in the East and South.

The pattern this week had some similarities to a classic Heartland spring severe weather outbreak.
First, a bullish southward plunge of the jet stream, or trough, swung through the Plains and Upper Midwest.
In the atmosphere's lowest levels, progressively warmer and more humid air arrived from the Gulf of Mexico into parts of the Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley.
With that vigorous jet stream overlapping warm, humid air and surface features – such as a dryline that divides High Plains dry air from more humid air to the east – and a warm front helping to lift the unstable air, the stage was set for an outbreak of severe thunderstorms with large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.
Friday, that powerful plunge of the jet stream pivots through the Great Lakes, driving a cold front into the East, where warmer, more humid air is attempting to push farther north out of the Carolinas into Virginia.
Here is our latest severe threat forecast.

• Friday: Scattered severe storms will flare up again during the early to mid-afternoon hours from the Mid-Atlantic states to the Gulf coast and westward into Deep South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. Damaging winds and large hail are the main threats, but there could be a tornado or two mainly over the Mid-Atlantic region.
• The severe threat may continue into the overnight hours in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
• Friday Threat Cities: Philadelphia | D.C. | Richmond | Raleigh | New Orleans

Friday's Threat Area

Flood/Flash Flood Alerts

Also, with this slow-moving western trough and the east-west frontal boundary in play, heavy rain and flash flooding are serious threats in parts of the Ohio Valley saturated from heavy rain last week. There have been rockslides in the steeper terrain of West Virginia due to the heavy rain.
(MORE: Louisville Water Rescues, Homes Evacuated | Vehicle a Flood Danger)
Check back with us at The Weather Channel and weather.com for the latest on this severe weather outbreak.
Do you know where to go in your home, apartment, condo, or place of business if a tornado warning is issued?
(MORE: 7 Things You Should Never Forget When Tornadoes Threaten | Don't Ignore Severe T-Storm Warnings)
Now is a good time to refresh your tornado safety plan, before a warning is issued.

MORE: Early April Severe Weather Outbreak (April 8-9, 2015)