Ahead of an approaching cold front, we’ll see the threat of some strong to severe thunderstorms for Thursday afternoon and evening, with the main hazards being heavy downpours, frequent lightning, and strong wind gusts.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed the DC and Baltimore-metro regions, along with northern VA, north-central MD and parts of the eastern panhandle of WV under a Slight Risk (2 out of 5 on the severe scale), while the rest of our region is under a marginal risk (1 out of 5).
Mainly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to some partly sunny skies into the early afternoon, allowing for the heat and humidity to build, which is what these thunderstorms thrive off of as they move in. We’ll see highs reach into the upper 80s to lower 90s Thursday afternoon, slightly warmer than Wednesday.
The timing of the storms looks to come in two waves: the first wave between 2pm to 5pm, with the secondary wave building in from 7pm to 10pm as the cold front inches closer…