More severe storms are possible Tuesday and Wednesday in the Philly region
'Ring of fire' storms are expected. And a tornado is possible, the weather service says.
Officially the meteorological fall has begun in Philly, and unofficially it’s beginning to feel a lot like August.
Along with a heat advisory, with 100-degree heat indexes possible Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service is warning the region may be for another one of those random storm outbreaks that so characterized August.
Some teaser showers are possible during the day Tuesday, said Sarah Johnson, warning coordination meteorologist at the weather service office in Mount Holly.
“But the main show looks to get going 6 p.m. or later,” she added. “Our biggest concern is damaging winds, but we can’t rule out the potential for a tornado.”
Sound familiar?
What to expect in the Philly region the next few days
Outside of snow, almost anything.
Temperatures are due to crest just past 90 degrees Tuesday, and the steamy air may make it feel like it’s 100, while providing raw material for strong storms.
The weather service’s precipitation probabilities increase from 30% during the day to 60% at night, and Johnson said she was confident just about every place in the region would get some rain the next two days.
Strong storms are possible Wednesday, and while probabilities are lower during the day Thursday, Johnson said at least one computer model was showing the potential for a “squall line” of storms to approach the region.
Clouds likely will hold down temperatures Wednesday, but they are expected to reach 90 or better Thursday and the heat index may shoot past 100.
Is August expected to end soon?
The atmosphere is due to start cleaning it up on Friday, and the Labor Day weekend is looking spectacular, with the caveat that it’s only Tuesday.
However the next three days are looking more they belong to the August rinse-repeat cycle.
Once again, the region is likely to experience “ring of fire” thunderstorms from storm-generating impulses along the edges of heat-producing high pressure, said Chad Merrill, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc.
The sequence has become familiar since mid-June as the edges of the high pressure retreat and allow the storms to develop.
An overall result has been a remarkable turnabout in the region’s drought fortunes, even though New Jersey remains under a drought “warning.”
During what the weather community calls the “meteorological summer,” the June 1 to Aug. 31 period, Philadelphia experienced 17 inches of rain, Merrill said, good for 14th place for the three-month period in records dating to the 1870s.
The meteorological fall really did begin Tuesday. Not that the atmosphere noticed.
This story will be updated.
