Trump And The Tornado Warning, New Hampshire Twister, More Severe Stuff Today

People at Dulles Airport in Virginia, near Washington DC, were ordered
into an underground train tunnel during a tornado warning Monday. No
tornado struck the airport, but a severe thunderstorm did.

UPDATE: 1 p.m. TUESDAY

A tornado watch  has been issued for a good chunk of the northeastern United States, including the southern two counties in Vermont

This is the second time within half a month in which at least part of Vermont has been under a tornado watch. That's a pretty unusual situation.

I still think the biggest threat from the severe storms will be strong straight line winds and hail.

Tornadoes are certainly possible in the tornado watch area, though. Tornado warnings were already appearing in northeastern Pennsylvania as of early afternoon. I think the greatest threat for tornadoes are in New York's Hudson Valley from Albany to just north of New York City. Also, western Massachusetts and western Connecticut have a decent threat of a tornado or two.

Already, isolated thunderstorms ahead of the main band were firing in eastern New York and headed toward New England. The ones out ahead of the main band have the biggest threat of firing up tornadoes, but the main band could produce a couple, too.

The storms will probably congeal into a nasty squall line later with a terrible wind threat, with gusts to 80 mph possible in spots.

Further north in Vermont, we needed the rain and it was heavier than expected this morning, which is a good thing. There's still a threat of some thunderstorms in central Vermont today, but I don't think they will be severe.

Rain will taper off in the north later today.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION:

A band of severe thunderstorms roared through parts of the Middle Atlantic states Monday (and in many areas in the central Plains) prompting a variety of severe weather alerts and causing a number of reports of damage. 

President Trump even got caught up in the middle of it.

TRUMP MOTORCADE BLASTED

Trump had visited his wife, Melania in the hospital and was headed back to the White House when the storms hit. He probably shouldn't have been out there, as part of his motorcade route took him through a zone that was under a tornado warning. 

I'm not sure why the Secret Service didn't make Trump wait it out at the hospital or some other sturdy building. So far, there are no reports that a tornado actually touched down, but the motorcade was battered by high winds, torrential rains and street flooding.

NEW HAMPSHIRE TORNADO

Apparent tornado damage in Warner, New Hampshire on May 4.

In other news, it turns out a long-tracked tornado struck New Hampshire on May 4.

You remember that Friday, when Vermont was under a tornado watch and New Hampshire was under a severe thunderstorm watch.

Vermont had lots and lots of severe thunderstorms that day, but no reports of tornadoes. It was New Hampshire that got it. (Vermont almost did with this one.)

The National Weather Service office in Gray, Maine said the tornado touched down in Charlestown, New Hampshire, which is just across the Connecticut River from Springfield and Rockingham, Vermont.

The twister traveled 35 miles in an east-northeasterly direction to the town of Webster. That's an awfully long tracked tornado, especially for New Hampshire. Most tornadoes, especially in New England, are on the ground for a only a few miles at most. This tornado caused the most damage in Warner, New Hampshire, where winds associated with the storm were estimated at up to 100 mph.

It was also the second earliest date in the year that a tornado has struck New Hampshire.

The tornado was an EF1. The National Weather Service will release a more detailed report on the twister today

NEW ENGLAND SEVERE WEATHER TODAY

There's a risk of severe thunderstorms today, especially in the
yellow and orange areas of this map. 

Today, there's actually the slight risk of a tornado again today, this time in southwestern New England, the lower Hudson Valley of New York and parts of northeastern Pennsylvania.

A cold front was approaching New England this morning.

Up here in northern Vermont, the clouds and rain will arrive before the air can destabilize, so just expect a bunch of needed showers, with maybe a rumble of thunder this morning and the first half of the afternoon

Once you get into southern Vermont, there could easily be some more rambuctious thunderstorms, with lightning and downpours, but I don't think the storms will be severe, except maybe near the Massachusetts border.

But the places I mentioned above will get some sunshine ahead of the cold front to destabilize the air. A weather disturbance approaching from the west in tandem with the cold front will act to stir the pot even more.

So there's a good chance of severe storms in cities like Danbury and Hartford, Connecticut, Springfield, Massachusetts and Scranton, Pennsylvania. There's a slightly lesser but still real chance o severe storms in the New York City metro area and parts of heavily populated New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland