The Upper Midwest and well into the Northeast is due for severe thunderstorms and high winds come Friday, and well into the weekend. This is due to rising heat and humidity that has built up as it interacts with the active jet streams in the area. On Friday the chances for severe storms starts in the Great Lakes region, Including Buffalo, Detroit, Pittsburgh and as far south as Charleston. There is also chances for the upper Midwest from Duluth to Fargo to experience the same severe weather, including thunderstorms that may be accompanied by damaging winds and hail. Meteorologists say there is even a chance for tornadoes.
The weather will dump quite a bit of rain, but experts are more concerned with the damaging winds that will likely accompany these thunderstorms. Chances of hail are very high, and hail can be quite damaging to cars and property. The hail that is expected could be large hail, which is of course more damaging than smaller hail normally seen with such storms. While there are chances for tornadoes, these will be isolated. The Northeast has already had severe thunderstorms on Wednesday, such as the severe thunderstorms that rocked New Jersey on Wednesday.
The increased thunderstorms and severe weather that will start on Friday is expected to be triggered by a strong disturbance which will collide, then ride along with the jet stream, starting with the northern Great Lakes region, but quickly approaching and arriving to the mid-Atlantic state by as early as Saturday mourning. Experts and Meteorologists predict the scattered t-storms might start in parts of Minnesota into the Great Lakes region, including the Ohio Valley. Heavy rain in expected in these regions along with some hail activity and high winds. By mid afternoon severe storms should start arising all over the Northeast including eastern Dakotas, Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. By mid evening these storms should reach into Wisconsin, Michigan, and northern Illinois.
The main concerns for property damage will be from the predicted straight lines and hail. While the rain could be quite heavy the rain is not expected at this time to cause significant damage. Minnesota is the most likely affected state to see a possible tornado or two. Cities likely to be most effected for this include Duluth, Minneapolis, Ironwood and Wausau.
Saturday is the day that these storms will become more widespread and far reaching, with threats for severe thunderstorms reaching into southern Michigan and Ohio and outwards to the Mid-Atlantic states. Cities that are expected to be hit hard include Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia, Washington.
