Gusty storms to rumble across midwestern, northeastern US to end week

July 20,2016; 8:52PM,EDT

 

 

Thunderstorms will rumble from the Upper Midwest to the northeastern United States and can bring localized severe weather through late in the week.
Spotty but locally heavy storms will affect parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota and Michigan into Wednesday evening.
As heat surges eastward, thunderstorms will ride the northern rim of hot air from the Great Lakes on Thursday to the northeastern United States on Friday. A storm system moving southeastward from the Canada Prairies will boost the strength of some of the storms.
On Thursday, states that are at greatest risk of being hit by a severe thunderstorm include Michigan and Wisconsin.

On Friday, the greatest threat for severe thunderstorms will extend from New York state to Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
"The greatest risk from the thunderstorms will be for damaging wind gusts," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski.
The storms can knock down trees, break off large tree limbs and cause sporadic power outages in a few communities.
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"There could also be flash flooding, but that will likely be on an isolated level as the storms will tend to move too fast to allow a more widespread threat to unfold," Pydynowski said.
A small number of the storms can also produce hail big enough to damage crops and dent automobiles.
As the stronger storms approach airports, flight delays are likely. Major airports that could be most affected by the storms include Chicago-O'Hare, Detroit Metro, Cleveland-Hopkins, Pittsburgh and Boston-Logan.
A greater number of locations will experience a brief downpour or two and a breeze, rather than severe weather. It may rain less than an hour or two in many areas.
However, even farther south from Illinois to Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and northern West Virginia, a few places can be hit by a heavy, gusty storm.
As a result, there is a chance of brief delays at the airports around New York City, including Newark, LaGuardia and JFK, during late Friday afternoon and evening.
Because of the rather quick-moving nature of the storms, people spending time outdoors should keep an eye out for rapidly changing weather conditions and seek shelter at the first rumble of thunder, Pydynowski stated.
"If you can hear thunder, you are at risk for being struck by lightning," she said.