HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — A stretch of the East Coast is waking up to a severe weather threat today, and forecasters say the window for dangerous conditions opens this afternoon.
A Marginal Risk corridor — Level 1 out of 5 — has been issued for a narrow band of cities running from Syracuse and Albany in New York, south through Harrisburg and York in Pennsylvania, then continuing through Baltimore and into Washington, D.C.
Why Storms Are Expected to Develop This Afternoon
A surface trough moving through the region is interacting with moist air already in place across the area.
Add strong afternoon heating into the mix, and the atmosphere becomes unstable enough to spark scattered storm development along the eastern Appalachians.
Once storms fire, they are expected to track eastward toward the coast through the afternoon and into the evening.
Damaging Wind Gusts Are the Main Threat
Forecasters are not worried about widespread severe weather today. The concern is more targeted than that.
Sporadic damaging wind gusts from isolated storms remain the primary threat for communities sitting inside or near the highlighted corridor.
That includes Syracuse, Albany, Harrisburg, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.
Most areas will stay dry. But the storms that do develop could produce brief, localized wind damage with little warning.
What You Should Do Right Now
Stay weather aware through the afternoon and evening hours. If you are in or near the corridor, avoid being outdoors during active storm cells and move away from trees and loose objects if winds pick up suddenly.
Areas including New York City, Boston, and Providence sit outside the highlighted zone but remain under a general thunderstorm watch for the day.
Have you already seen storms moving through your area today? Let us know in the comments what the weather looks like where you are.