New York City, Philadelphia, Washington face tornado threat as heavy rain, severe storms threaten East Coast

An advancing cold front is expected to spark widespread rain and thunderstorms along the Interstate 95 corridor in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic on Thursday, with cities like New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington at risk of severe weather, including tornadoes.

Many of the thunderstorms that develop on Thursday will be more isolated or of the pop-up variety, with forecasters warning that some could reach strong to severe levels.

While the greatest hazards will be damaging wind gusts, flooding rain, and lightning, some storms could produce tornadoes.

Computer forecast models suggest rainfall totals could climb to as much as 3 inches across portions of eastern Pennsylvania and into southwestern New England, with localized amounts possibly exceeding those figures where storms repeatedly track over the same areas.

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) noted that while the atmosphere doesn’t appear to have the necessary ingredients to produce a severe weather outbreak, powerful storms could occur nonetheless.

The SPC placed tens of millions of people along the I-95 corridor from southern New England through the Northeast and into the mid-Atlantic in a Level 1 out of 5 threat on its severe thunderstorm risk scale.

In addition, nearly 45 million people from western Massachusetts to the Delmarva Peninsula on the U.S. East Coast will be at risk of tornadoes.

This includes cities like Springfield in Massachusetts, Hartford in Connecticut, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington.

Localized flooding is another concern where storms develop and repeatedly pass over the same communities, a phenomenon known as training. 

Areas with poor drainage, such as urban centers, may be particularly vulnerable to standing water on roads and highways, which could create travel headaches during the evening and overnight hours. 

On the other hand, many communities that have gone weeks without significant rainfall may welcome the moisture, as drought concerns have been building across parts of the East.

For most, the cold front will exit off the East Coast on Friday, bringing an end to the rainy weather.