Rounds of Showers, Severe Storms to Swipe at Eastern and Southern US Through Friday

By Brian Lada, Meteorologist

June 30,2015; 11:49PM,EDT

 

 

Two disturbances tracking eastward from the Plains will bring bouts of showers and thunderstorms to the Ohio Valley, East and South through the rest of the week.
The first of the disturbances is expected to take a more northerly track early in the week, while the second swings father south late in the week, shifting the axis of the heaviest showers and storms.

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According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, through Wednesday, showers and thunderstorms will stretch from New England to the Deep South.
"Some of the storms will be locally severe with strong wind gusts, hail and flash flooding," Sosnowski said.

This includes parts of the Interstate 64, I-70, I-77, I-80, I-81, I-85 and I-95 corridors.
A brief tornado could also be spawned by a couple of the strongest and longest-lived thunderstorms.
"The metro areas of many major cities could be hit by a disruptive storm or something more severe," Sosnowski said. "This includes Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City, Charlotte, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C."

By Thursday, the second disturbance will enter the picture, taking a more southerly path.
As a result, the main corridor of showers and storms will shift south, allowing some drying to expand from the Great Lakes region to New England.

This second disturbance is also likely to bring the heaviest rain of the week and the risk of flooding to the Tennessee Valley, the southern Appalachians and part of the southern Atlantic Seaboard.
Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee, and Louisville, Lexington and Bowling Green, Kentucky, may end up receiving 1 to 2 inches of rain on Thursday alone.
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"The ground in many places is saturated, so any rain is going to be considered excessive by a lot of folks, especially in light of one of the wettest Junes on record," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Joe Lundberg.

Rivers are likely to swell from the rapid rainfall rate, leading to flooding in unprotected low-lying areas located near the banks of rivers across the region.
Even through the rain is not expected to be as heavy heading into Friday, any additional rainfall from showers and thunderstorms could spark more flooding issues due to the heavily saturated ground.
Showers and thunderstorms will not end in the East with the conclusion of the week, carrying over into the holiday weekend.

The Fourth of July is not expected to be a complete washout anywhere in the East, but showers and thunderstorms can still lead to interruptions in parades, cookouts and firework displays across a large swath of the East.
Areas most likely to experience thunderstorms or drenching downpours will stretch from the southern part of the Ohio Valley and the Tennessee Valley to the central and southern Appalachians and the middle part of the Atlantic coast on Saturday evening. However, that zone could shift farther north or south, due to weak steering winds.