Risk of Storms for Nearly Entirety of Eastern Seaboard

Posted: April 14, 2022 3:34 pm

The line of severe storms that caused at least one fatality in Arkansas on Wednesday has now made its way to the Eastern Seaboard.

Wednesday’s Destructive Weather

It was an active weather pattern throughout the central U.S. this week, bringing heavy rain, damaging wind gusts, sizable hail, and up to 30 tornadoes. In addition to over two dozen reported injuries, there was at least one death attributed to the storms.

A woman died Wednesday afternoon when a tree fell onto her mobile home in Rison, a town to the south of Little Rock, Arkansas. The 20-year-old was pinned under a tree and rescuers were unable to get to her in time.

There were a number of confirmed tornado reports on Wednesday, including a twister that touched down in Louisville, Kentucky at about 8:30 pm Wednesday. The funnel cloud ignited numerous fire incidents and brought with it wind gusts of 75 mph. There were three additional tornado touchdowns in central Kentucky.

Mississippi also experienced an evening of widespread tornadic activity. The city of Jackson was dealing with its second tornado warning in the last two weeks as the rain-wrapped twister barreled toward the capitol building.

Earlier in the day, the action was in Oklahoma when an EF1 tornado was on the ground for over six miles in Stilwell, located to the southeast of Tulsa. This twister tore roofs off buildings and uprooted numerous trees as it carved a path of destruction.

That twister was tame compared to the EF3 event that injured over 20 people in southern Bell County in Texas on Tuesday. This particular tornado boasted wind speeds of 165 mph as it roared near the town of Salado, approximately 50 miles north of Austin.

What is Next?

It will be the eastern U.S. that takes it on the chin on Thursday. Another round of locally severe thunderstorms packing strong winds will rush through the East Coast in an area stretching from New England all the way down into northern Florida. While the risks associated with Thursday’s last gasp of severe weather will be less than what the central U.S. saw earlier in the week, these storms still have the potential of causing intense rain, large hail, and gusty conditions through the end of the day Thursday.

The warm and moist air currently positioned out to the east will provide the impetus needed for storms to fire up in the late afternoon and evening hours as the mercury rises. These storms will deliver winds strong enough to bring down trees and cause localized power outages. It will not be out of the realm of possibility for hail the size of marbles to fall as the storms move through.

Travelers need to be ready for flight delays throughout some of the country’s largest hubs, including New York City, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, and Atlanta. Bumpy skies will also be likely due to the unstable atmospheric conditions.

Looking Ahead to Friday

By Friday, the Appalachians and the East Coast will be enjoying drier air but cooler temperatures. The daytime high for Friday in New York City will top out in the upper 60s, in contrast to the highs of near 80 degrees on Thursday.

This chilly air will hang on through the holiday weekend for much of the East Coast. This cool air mass will provide the necessary conditions for a potential of a rain and snow mix over the interior Northeast at the beginning of the week. Forecasters are already warning that this system could take on characteristics of a nor’easter.

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