Strong weekend storms are expected to bring a variety of impacts to the East Coast, including thunderstorms, hail, gusty wind and possibly even a few tornadoes, causing a sense of relief from the recent heat and smoky conditions.
Warm and muggy temperatures are once again plaguing portions of the East Coast, but thick Canadian wildfire smoke could throw a wrench into exactly how hot it gets.
Fortunately, this warm, smoky pattern will break as storms move in this weekend.
The heat dome parked across the East Coast will still keep temperatures hot and humidity levels high through Friday. But the massive wildfire smoke remains a wildcard for daily temperatures.
The thick layer of smoke acts like a filter, scattering and reflecting incoming sunlight before it can reach and heat the ground, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
As we head into the weekend, a slow-moving cold front will sweep through the East Coast.
This incoming front will trigger widespread, heavy showers and thunderstorms, beginning Friday in the Ohio Valley and continuing through Sunday across portions of the Mid-Atlantic.
While these storms will carry a risk of damaging winds, downpours and frequent lightning, the greatest concern will be Saturday.
A Level 2 out of 5 severe storm threat extends throughout most of the Northeast and southeastern Great Lakes.
An intense line of storms will develop across western parts of the Northeast late evening on Saturday and move eastward through the overnight hours, the FOX Forecast Center said.
Large, damaging hail will be the primary threat early on. However, once the storms transition into a line, damaging wind gusts will become the main hazard. A few tornadoes are also possible.
As the cold front continues its eastward progress farther south, severe storms will also be likely across Western Virginia and North Carolina, where there is a Level 2 out of 5 severe storm threat on Sunday.
In addition to the storm threat, a flash flooding threat stretches across the Ohio Valley on Friday.
On Saturday, the flood threat includes a large portion of the Northeast, where a level 2 flood threat is in effect for New York City, parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
On Sunday, a level 1 flash flood threat is in place for parts of Virginia and North Carolina.
For New York City, rainy weekends have become all too familiar this summer.
Central Park has recorded measurable rain every single weekend since the beginning of June, and if the current forecast holds, that streak will likely continue.
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