Lightning may interfere with the Eagles’ opener, and Super Bowl ceremony — again

After two splendid weeks of weather in the Philly region, the atmosphere is about to take an annoying turn, just in time for the Eagles’ opener and the unveiling of the Super Bowl banner.

The National Weather Service issued a statement late Thursday afternoon warning of thunderstorms arriving around 8 p.m., with the potential “brief strong wind gusts near 40 mph.” Kickoff is scheduled for 8:20 p.m.

Showers are possible well into the night, forecasters say, perhaps accompanied by lightning when the Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys.

“It’s not the rain so much we’re concerned about,” saidBob Larsen, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. “It’s the risk of lightning that raises the red flag.“ He said the threat could persist until 11 p.m.

This may seem familiar: Coincidentally, seven years ago rain and lightning interrupted the Eagles’ home opener against the Atlanta Falcons — the night they unveiled the 2018 Super Bowl banner.

The timing and intensity of thunderstorms remain perennial forecast challenges, but in this case, “There’s a pretty decent chance that it rains,” said Alex Staarmann, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly. “It’ll be a close shot.”

A line of showers slowly approaching the region had reached Lancaster by 4 p.m., and Larsen said it appeared to be expanding in areal coverage.

After it gets here, he said, “It’s just not going to go away right away.”

He said rain amounts in South Philly wouldn’t be heavy, maybe in the 0.15-0.25-inch range, with heavier amounts west of the city.

Larsen added that although temperatures will in the 70s, it may feel “on the sticky side,” given the bumps in humidity and the contrasts with just how comfortable it has been.

Said Larsen, “We’re in the closing hours of an extended period of very nice weather.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.