Severe Weather Threat in The Northeast Today

A severe thunderstorm approaches St. Albans Bay,
Vermont in July, 2013. Skies like this
are possible in parts of the Northeast today.  

The Southern Plains have been getting all the weather headlines lately, what with all the daily severe storms, epic floods, and tornadoes that seem to happen daily.

It's active there today, too, but we've got a new region to watch: The Northeast.  

There hasn't been too much severe weather in that neck of the woods this spring. Just a smattering of wind damage reports earlier this month from New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.

That'll change today, as severe thunderstorms are likely to develop across much of the Northeast and parts of the eastern Ohio River Valley.

As is the case with most severe outbreaks, most people in this heavily populated region won't suffer through super severe storms. A few places will have tree and structural damage, big hail and flash flooding.

Most other people will probably get a good thunderstorm or two, but nothing to get your homeowner's insurance agent too worried about.

NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has a slight risk of severe storms in areas including all of Vermont, most of New Hampshire, the eastern half of New York, much of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and parts of Ohio and extreme eastern Indiana.

In most of these areas, strong wind gusts are the main danger from the storms, along with the lightning that is also dangerous. Hail isn't as big a threat, except in Ohio. The tornado risk with this system is quite low.

So, keep an eye to the skies in the Northeast, as we are likely to get the first real outbreak of strong and severe storms of the season.

The National Weather Service phrase for this is cheesy, but true: When thunder roars, stay indoors.