A potpourri of topics today ranging from another day with a strong thunderstorm threat in the Mid-Atlantic region to an active Atlantic Basin tropical scene to an update on Comet NEOWISE which is making its closest approach to Earth later tonight. First, on the weather threat in the Mid-Atlantic region, yet another wave of energy aloft will combine with considerable amounts of moisture in the low and middle levels of the atmosphere to bring another shot at strong storms later today and tonight. Second, on the tropics, an impressive tropical wave over the central Gulf of Mexico is likely headed to the east coast of Texas by the early part of the weekend and it will result in heavy rainfall in that part of the southern US. A second tropical system, Tropical Storm Gonzalo, has run into a bit of dry air which has halted its intensification in recent hours as it continues to push towards the Caribbean Sea. A third tropical wave has just emerged off the west coast of Africa and it may become an important player to monitor next week. Finally, Comet NEOWISE makes its closest approach to the Earth later tonight and it won’t be back around these parts for about 6800 years.
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The Atlantic Basin tropical scene has become quite active with an impressive system over the eastern Gulf of Mexico and also a newly named tropical storm over the central tropical Atlantic. The Gulf system has a chance to intensify into a named tropical storm over the next couple of days as it heads towards the northwestern part of the Gulf and Tropical Storm Gonzalo could very well climb to hurricane status over the next couple of days in the central Atlantic.
Elsewhere, a wave of energy in the upper part of the atmosphere is combining with a stalled out frontal boundary zone and plenty of moisture to spark some strong thunderstorm activity at mid-day in the western part of the Mid-Atlantic region and across the Ohio Valley. Some of these thunderstorm cells will make it into the I-95 corridor at day’s end and likely reach strong-to-severe levels with the potential of damaging wind gusts of up to 60 mph, hail, frequent lightning and heavy rainfall.
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A wave of energy in the upper part of the atmosphere is combining with a stalled out frontal boundary zone and plenty of moisture to spark some strong thunderstorm activity in the western part of the Mid-Atlantic region and some of these cells will make it into the I-95 corridor at day’s end. An even stronger wave of energy aloft will likely generate thunderstorms later tomorrow for the Mid-Atlantic region and some of these can reach severe levels with heavy rainfall, hail and potential damaging wind gusts. Elsewhere, the Atlantic Basin tropical scene has become more active with two systems to monitor over the next few days and additional waves are drifting westward over Africa assuring an active last stretch of the month of July.
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We are approaching the climatologically warmest time of the year for the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US/Great Lakes regions of the country and it looks the weather pattern will live up to those long-term averages. The hottest weather of the season so far will begin this weekend and continue through the middle of next week. The hottest days during this stretch for the I-95 corridor will likely turn out to be Sunday and Monday when temperatures should climb to the mid and upper 90’s in the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC-Boston corridor.
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Heavy rain bands are rotating around Tropical Storm Fay at this hour and extending northwestward into eastern Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and southeastern New York. There has already been a boat load of rain over the Delmarva Peninsula with several inches in some spots and flooding has been prevalent in some Delaware beach towns such as Bethany Beach. Tropical Storm Fay will continue to push in a general northerly direction over the next several hours though it could bobble around at times in slightly different directions. The storm’s center is likely to push through New Jersey from south-to-north later today and then continue northward tonight into the Hudson Valley region of New York State.
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The main focus today is on a low pressure system over the coastal sections of North Carolina as it poses a threat for heavy rainfall on Friday in the eastern Mid-Atlantic region. This system is likely to push to the northeast during the next several hours out over the warm waters of the western Atlantic and then make a move in a more northerly direction likely reaching a position over the southern half of the Delmarva Peninsula by early tomorrow. There is a good chance that when this system moves out over the ocean later today, it’ll intensify enough to become a “named” tropical storm (would be “Fay”). Whether or not it becomes a "named" storm, it has the potential to produce very heavy rainfall on Friday in the eastern part of the Mid-Atlantic region along with quite gusty winds along coastal sections.
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Scattered showers and thunderstorms continue to plague the Mid-Atlantic region at mid-day and this threat will continue into tonight. On Thursday, attention will turn to the Outer Banks region of North Carolina as this is where low pressure is likely to be located early in the day. This system is then likely to push to the northeast out over the warm waters of the western Atlantic and then make a move northward reaching a position near the southern part of the Delmarva Peninsula by early Friday. There is a chance when this system moves over the open waters of the western Atlantic, it’ll intensify enough to become a “named” tropical storm by NOAA’s National Hurricane Center. Whether or not it becomes a "named" storm (it would be “Fay”), it has the potential to produce very heavy rainfall on Friday in the eastern part of the Mid-Atlantic region along with gusty winds and strong rip currents in the western Atlantic Ocean. The departure of this coastal storm on Saturday will likely not be the end of the wet weather pattern in the eastern US. An impressive upper-level trough should form by later in the weekend likely leading to more rainfall into the first half of next week.
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There was significant rainfall in the Mid-Atlantic region on Monday with as much as 4-8 inches just to the southeast of Washington, D.C. and grounds are very well-saturated in many spots. While there can be some shower and thunderstorm activity later today, it should not be nearly as widespread nor as intense as to what took place late yesterday. The threat for scattered showers and thunderstorms will continue on Wednesday and then attention will turn to the Southeast US as low pressure slowly pushes through the Carolinas and heads toward the western Atlantic Ocean. This tropical/sub-tropical low pressure system is likely to then take a turn to the northeast and ride up over or just to the east of the the Mid-Atlantic coastline. The result could be some heavy rainfall on Friday - likely along and to the east of Route I-95 - and strong rip currents are likely to form in the ocean as well with gusty winds. The departure of this coastal low on Saturday won’t be the end of the wet weather pattern for the eastern states as an impressive upper-level trough is likely to develop by later in the weekend leading to more rainfall into the early part of next week.
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An upper-level low continues to meander over the Northeast US and showers and thunderstorms will again “pin wheel” around this system during the afternoon and evening. Some of the thunderstorms will reach strong-to-severe levels with highly unstable conditions given the cool air aloft combined with warm lower levels of the atmosphere. Any thunderstorm that forms today can include heavy downpours and perhaps small hail as the freezing level is rather low in this pattern. The upper-level low will finally slide to the southeast by tomorrow and this will reduce the chances for showers and thunderstorms.
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Temperatures will spike on Saturday in the Mid-Atlantic region after a comfortably warm day on Friday and the sudden warm up will be accompanied by plenty of instability in the atmosphere. Multiple waves of energy in the upper part of the atmosphere will shift eastward on Saturday from the Northern Plains across the Ohio Valley and into the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US. In addition, there will be a frontal boundary zone extending all the way from the Northern Plains into the eastern Great Lakes and this too will help to create some instability. As a result, strong-to-severe thunderstorms will be possible in the Mid-Atlantic region on Saturday afternoon and evening; especially, to the north of the PA/MD border.
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