Severe Storms Aim at Washington, Philadelphia and New York for the Friday Evening Commute

More than 40 million people across the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast are in the path of severe thunderstorms on Friday, October 16, as a strong cold front pushes into warm, humid air. Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston are all in the threatened area, and forecasters say the worst of the storms will arrive in the afternoon and early evening, in time for the drive home.

The Storm Prediction Center has placed the region under a Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms, Level 2 of 5. The risk area covers all of New Jersey and Delaware and parts of Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut. Morning rain will give way to a warmer, more humid afternoon before the front sets off a second, stronger round of storms.

Damaging winds are the main threat

Forecasters say damaging winds are the primary danger. AccuWeather meteorologists expect the strongest storms to produce wind gusts of 55 to 65 miles per hour in New Jersey, and FOX Weather says gusts up to 70 miles per hour are possible across eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey. Winds of that strength can bring down trees and power lines and leave neighborhoods without power.

A brief tornado is also possible. The Storm Prediction Center says strong low-level wind shear could support brief tornadoes inside the line of storms or in embedded supercells as the threat spreads into eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, which covers New Jersey, put the timing at 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for far northwest New Jersey, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for the I-95 corridor, and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for southern New Jersey. The threat is expected to fade after sunset.

A warm day, then heavy rain for the evening commute

Friday started with showers and fog in the Washington area, with sunshine by midday and a high of 83 degrees expected before storms reach the capital after 5 p.m., according to FOX 5 DC. Rain arrived across the Northeast on Friday morning and made for a slick morning commute on the I-95 corridor. Heavier downpours are expected for the Friday evening commute, with up to an inch of rain possible north of the Interstate 90 corridor through Friday night.

The coldest air of the season follows

Behind the front, the chilliest air of the season so far will spread across the region. Saturday highs will stay in the 50s across much of the mid-Atlantic, with gusty winds making it feel colder. Parts of northern New England could wake up to lows in the upper 20s and low 30s this weekend. Higher ground in the Adirondacks, the Green Mountains and the White Mountains could see 1 to 3 inches of snow by Saturday night, and parts of the Ohio Valley, northern New Jersey and the Hudson Valley could see their first frost of the season.

The Weather Channel urged people across the region to stay weather aware on the commute home on Friday. If you are driving when the storms arrive, expect sudden heavy rain, strong crosswinds and debris on the roads, and never drive through flooded streets.