Damaging thunderstorms target central Plains, northeastern US on Thursday

By Brett Rathbun, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

July 14,2016; 9:34AM,EDT

 

 

Dangerous summertime thunderstorms will impact portions of the interior Northeast and central Plains into Thursday night.
A cold front stretching from the Great Lakes to the central Plains, along with warm, humid air in place, will assist in the development of two separate areas of strong to severe thunderstorms on Thursday.
The more robust thunderstorm activity will be focused across portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.
"A thunderstorm complex is expected to form across south-central Kansas and northern Oklahoma during the afternoon hours and propagate eastward into Missouri and Arkansas during the evening and overnight hours," AccuWeather Meteorologist Ryan Adamson said.

Those in the risk area include Wichita, Kansas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Springfield, Missouri; and Fayetteville, Arkansas.
These thunderstorms will be capable of producing damaging wind gusts and flooding rainfall. Some of the strongest storms could also produce large hail.
The threat for flash flooding will be the greatest across any communities hit hard by thunderstorms already this week.
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Elsewhere, a line of showers and thunderstorms will move across the interior Northeast into Thursday evening.
"The best chance for a stronger thunderstorm will be across upstate New York and into New England," Adamson said.
Those traveling along portions of interstates 81, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91 and 93 will want to be alert for rapidly changing weather conditions.
Those traveling on areas highways will want to reduce speed in downpours to lower the risk of hydroplaning. Roads could be slick in some spots due to a build of oil associated with a lack of rain of late.

Flights could be delayed for a time, especially at regional airports including Syracuse, Albany and Watertown, New York, and Burlington, Vermont.
Winds will be strong enough to knock down trees and power lines, resulting in sporadic power outages.
The strongest storms will remain to the west of the Interstate 95 corridor from New York City to Boston and Bangor, Maine.
While some of these storms could produce some wind damage, the rain will be beneficial for the building drought across the region.
By Friday, heavy, gusty thunderstorms will be focused across the Deep South as drier air builds across much of the Northeast. A few spotty showers, however, will be possible across parts of the interior.
Meanwhile, another round of severe thunderstorms is likely to develop across parts of the northern and central Plains on Friday.
Following this weekend, a change in the weather pattern will bring occasional thunderstorm activity to the East while extreme heat and dry weather builds across the Central states.