Storms to drench mid-Atlantic, midwestern US on Tuesday

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

July 18,2016; 9:33PM,EDT

 

 

Locally heavy, gusty thunderstorms will target the mid-Atlantic and re-fire in portions of the Midwest on Tuesday.
The storms will have the potential to be locally gusty and drenching, following locally severe weather in parts of the Northeast and Midwest from Monday.
Meanwhile, less humid air is projected to expand from the Great Lakes region to the interior Northeast on Tuesday.

"The dry air should make significant progress across the Northeast, due to strong northwesterly winds in the middle and upper levels of the atmosphere," according to AccuWeather Chief Video Meteorologist Bernie Rayno.
The lower humidity and slightly lower temperatures should be enough to prevent showers and thunderstorms from erupting. Temperatures will be shaved by 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to highs on Monday in most areas. In parts of the interior Northeast, temperatures will drop by 15 degrees. Instead of highs in the 80s and 90s, highs will be in the 70s and 80s for a couple of days.
"The push of dry air should bring a good deal of sunshine without high humidity from the central Great Lakes to New England, southward to much of the mid-Atlantic through Wednesday and Thursday," Rayno said.
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However, where humidity and temperatures remain high early in the week, storms will likely erupt.
Areas from Iowa and Missouri to portions of Tennessee, southern Kentucky, North Carolina, southern and eastern Virginia and southeastern Maryland can expect showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday.

Some of the storms in these areas can bring strong wind gusts and flash flooding at the local level.
The storms could bring temporary relief from building drought in parts of the interior South, including the Tennessee Valley.
Prior to the humidity coming down, a few places from New Jersey to Long Island and southeastern Massachusetts could get a shower or storm on Tuesday.
Scattered thunderstorms may continue to erupt on a daily basis over the Southeastern states during the middle and latter part of this week. Storms are likely to continue to fire on the rim of the building heat over parts of the northern Plains and the upper Mississippi Valley.

"As very hot and humid air begin to surge eastward from the Plains, there could be a round of thunderstorms from the Great Lakes to the Northeast late in the week into the start of the weekend," Rayno said.
Where storms fail to head off the hot air, temperatures could reach their highest levels of the year so far during Friday and Saturday.