Severe Thunderstorms marching east

If you haven't been outside yet today, the unusually cool weather of the past few days is gone.  Ahead of a strong cold front, warm and humid air is surging into the region along gusty southwesterly winds.  If you have a relative who gets pain in their joints as the pressure falls, I don't need to tell you that change is once again on the way.  A strong cold front currently draped across Western Pennsylvania is heading east, and thunderstorms are popping up along and ahead of the front this afternoon in the warm, unstable air across the Keystone State.  The Storm Prediction Center has maintained their slight risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon across our entire coverage area (the map above shows the probability of wind gusts of at least 50 knots, or 58 mph, anywhere within 25 miles of a point -- 30%, which is fairly high).

Right now, it looks like the time frame for these storms would be anywhere between 5 and 10pm.  Obviously, with such a soupy atmosphere, thunderstorms can develop at anytime, but the primary line associated with the cold front should hold off until mid- to late-evening.  A severe thunderstorm watch is already up for most of Central PA through this evening, and will likely be expanded further east over the next few hours.  The storms that have already popped up across the Appalachian ridges south of State College have a fairly dangerous characteristic -- they all seem to be producing large, damaging hail, at least according to radar.  That may be the biggest threat for the next few hours, but as the storms move east, the threat for damaging straight-line winds will increase, and that will likely be our biggest threat this evening.

Of course, tune to local media for the latest updates, and follow out Twitter account for updates as well.
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