By Brett Rathbun, AccuWeather meteorologist
The Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic region has begun to face a never-ending onslaught of severe weather, and another threat for dangerous thunderstorms is expected on Thursday.
Thursday will mark the third straight day of severe weather across the region, following storms bringing widespread hail, wind damage, flooding and even a few tornadoes during Tuesday and Wednesday. The same areas which dealt with severe weather on Tuesday and Wednesday are likely to face a similar risk again during Thursday afternoon and evening.
Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Morgantown, West Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; and Washington, D.C., are just some of the communities at risk.
"The strongest storms can bring hail and damaging wind gusts from parts of central Ohio to central New Jersey," AccuWeather Meteorologist Maura Kelly said.
While the tornado threat will be low on Thursday, it only takes one thunderstorm and tornado to devastate a community.
Residents are urged to seek shelter at the first sign of a thunderstorm approaching the area as conditions can rapidly deteriorate.
A 55-year-old woman was killed in West Virginia on Wednesday afternoon when strong winds from a nearby thunderstorm caused a large tree to fall on her while getting the mail, according to WCHS/WVAH.
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Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches in places on Thursday can lead to additional flash flooding in areas already waterlogged from the persistent rainfall this month. There can be an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 6 inches.
"Saturated soil will be unable to absorb additional rainfall with ease and normally steady trees will be vulnerable to being blown over in any significant wind gust," Kelly said.
Much of the mid-Atlantic has received nearly one-and-a-half to two times as much rainfall compared to normal this month.
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The overall weather pattern that set up across the country aided in several storm systems to move across the mid-Atlantic states this week. The main driver for this was a large dome of high pressure across the Southeast, which forced multiple storm systems to track along its northern periphery through the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic. Enough warm and humid air allowed for these storms to be severe.
Tuesday, day one of this outbreak, featured numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds. Over 4.5 inches of rain fell in some of the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh as thunderstorms moved repeatedly over the area.
Hail as large as 4 inches was reported across Pennsylvania.
As of early Thursday morning, three tornadoes have been confirmed by National Weather Service storm surveys from Tuesday's storms.
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A tornado was spotted near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday afternoon.
(Twitter/Rusty Hooks)
Golf ball-sized hail in Macungie, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday afternoon.
(Twitter/@StateCollegeMom)
A shelf cloud on the leading edge of a severe storm moving into Hershey, Pennsylvania.
(Twitter/@JamieSeelig)
Macungie, Pennsylvania, was hit with widespread golf ball-sized hail on Wednesday afternoon.
(Twitter/@JamieSeelig)
Hail covering the ground in Macungie, Pennsylvania, following a severe thunderstorm.
(Twitter/@mattkermitz)
A hailstone next to a golf ball in Macungie, Pennsylvania. The person who took the photo said that it hailed for 10 minutes straight.
(Twitter/@StateCollegeMom)
A shelf cloud moving over Hershey, Pennsylvania.
An EF2 tornado touched down in Morgantown, Pennsylvania. A tornado in both Stanhope and Hopatcong, New Jersey, was rated an EF1. Additional details from both of these storms will be provided in the coming days.
An EF0 tornado also touched down in the Penn Run area of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday afternoon. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said in a tweet that nine tornadoes have already been confirmed in their coverage warning area this year. They average five for the entire year.
Wednesday, day two, was mainly a damaging wind event across the region as 60- to 70-mph wind gusts toppled numerous trees and power lines.
Hail the size of limes was reported near Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday afternoon. Local National Weather Service offices issued several tornado warnings, mainly across eastern Pennsylvania, though no confirmed tornadoes have occurred at this time.
A tornado may have touched down near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday afternoon, as indicated by social media.
Storm surveys are likely to occur in the coming days to determine if any damage from Wednesday was caused by a tornado.
The storm set to move into the eastern United States on Thursday will mark an end to this persistent weather pattern and also the widespread severe weather threat across not only the East, but the Plains as well.
"A break from thunderstorms is expected across the Northeast on Friday as an area of high pressure briefly builds over the area," Kelly said.
Thunderstorms can make a return for a time this weekend, but widespread severe weather is not expected.
"More dry weather will return early next week," Kelly said.
Drier stretches are anticipated across the Northeast during early June.
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