Nice weather Wednesday in Maryland, strong to severe storms return Thursday
Wednesday is the pick of the week with skies gradually clearing this afternoon along with slightly lower humidity values. Look for partial sunshine this afternoon along with comfortable temperatures. Highs will top out in the lower 80s.
The WJZ First Alert Weather Team has upgraded Thursday to a First Alert Weather Day for the potential of strong to severe storms. These storms may impact the Thursday evening commute, so stay tuned for further updates.
Storms Thursday afternoon and evening will have the capability of delivering blinding downpours, flooding in poor drainage areas, localized wind damage, and some additional power outages to parts of the area.
Wednesday's weather is the pick of workweek in Baltimore
Scattered showers early Wednesday morning pushed through Baltimore City and adjacent communities along the Baltimore Beltway. These showers have now pushed south of the WJZ viewing area.
While skies will not rapidly clear this morning, we will see some brightening of the sky along with gradually falling humidity levels. The best weather of the day will take place this afternoon into early this evening with a partly cloudy sky. Highs will top out in the lower 80s. Wednesday will be the best day for any outdoor plans since the weather stays dry and comfortable. .
First Alert Weather Day Thursday for strong storms in Maryland
Thursday has been upgraded to a First Alert Weather Day for the potential of strong to severe storms during the afternoon and evening commute. With each new computer model cycle data that is arriving, confidence is increasing for the likelihood of clusters of strong to severe storms crossing through parts of central and eastern Maryland.
The window of potential strong to severe storms appears to be from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. Storms will develop as isolated cells to our west and graduallly grow in size and strengthen in intensity. The best chance of strong to severe storms in the Baltimore metro appears to be in the 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. window.
Any storm could bring blinding downpours, localized streeth and urban flooding, intense lightning, and 40 to 60 mph wind gusts. This may knock down additional trees and snap tree branches leading to more power outages in some communities. While this round of storms will likely not be nearly as intense as the weekend, it still has the potential to cause travel delays and disruptions along with pockets of wind damage and power outages.
Given how muggy the atmosphere will be, storms may deliver 1 to 3 inch per hour rainfall rates. Luckily the storms should be moving quickly enough to avoid any large and excessive rainfall totals.
Between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. storms will exit offshore and the rest of Thursday nigth into Fridy morning with be quiet and humid with patchy areas of fog forming.
More Friday storms with improving weekend weather
Afternoon and evening storms are likely Friday across our area. Storms look to develop in clusters, so not everyone will get wet. The stronger storms will be able to deliver gusty winds, downpours, and lightning. A few strong to severe storms will be possible, but the coverage shouldn't be as widespread as Thursday afternoon and evening. Highs on Friday will be hot near 90°.
The slow-moving front responsible for showers and storms Friday evening will stall just to our south. Our nothern neighborhoods will see the nicest weather Saturday. Meanwhile our southern neighborhoods may still see some leftover showers. Everyone should start to see some improving weather by mid to late Saturday evening.
Most of Sunday should be a decent day to get outside and enjoy your typical summertime warmth. The real extreme humidity levels should back down a bit for a more enjoyable day outdoors.