New Jersey, Delaware on 2-Day Outlook for Tornadic Thunderstorms

This Saturday in the US, New Jersey and Delaware will present the greatest risk for tornadic thunderstorms, with a focus on the Delaware Beaches and the Jersey Shore, where waterspouts will also be possible. This evaluation is based on the most recent Convective Outlook published by the Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service (SPC.)

High Possibility for Tornadic Thunderstorms

The atmosphere may be ripe to produce tornadoes across parts of the eastern United States as a weather system that caused violent tornadoes on Friday and damaging winds early today and into Sunday push east. Areas from southwestern New Hampshire and the extreme southern regions of Vermont into western Massachusetts, western Connecticut, southeast New York, most of Delaware and New Jersey, and northeast coastal Virginia, there is an increased risk of tornadoes, according to the SPC.

Along the southeast coast of North Carolina, from southeastern Alabama through southern Georgia and South Carolina, there is an increased risk of tornadoes.

The SPC claims that there is an even higher risk of tornadic cells within this region, over parts of southern and central New Jersey and most of Delaware. As these storms move across this environment, a few tornadoes may form in the area over New Jersey and Delaware.

A plume of upper 50s to near 60 dewpoints will move northward from eastern Virginia through Philadelphia and into far southeast New York, with southern surface winds for the majority of the day helping to deepen the moist boundary layer. An intense cold front will arrive very late in the day and continue into the early evening for eastern areas. Strong heating will take place along and to the west of this moist plume, preparing the air mass.

Waterspouts on Sunday

Additionally, near-shore waters and bays may experience waterspouts, which, particularly along the Jersey Shore, may develop into tornadoes as they pass through barrier island communities. Boaters should be aware of this threat that could arise in the future.

A front/dryline farther south will slow as it travels through Georgia and southern Alabama during the day, while a more significant cold front moves east across Virginia and through both the Carolinas. These areas may experience sporadic severe storms during the day.

People in these high-risk tornado areas should make plans for where they will be during the evening hours and what they will do or where they will go if their community receives a tornado warning. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and Tornado Warnings may only be issued seconds or minutes before impact, whereas Severe Thunderstorm Watches or Tornado Watches are usually issued a few hours prior to the threat's arrival, The Weatherboy reports.

Capital Weather Alerts

As per The Weather Channel, Dover is under two weather alerts: a Gale, Warning until tomorrow morning and a Wind Advisory that will remain in effect until 2 PM tomorrow.

New York City, which is much farther from the shores than Dover is under a Small Craft Advisory, effective until 6 PM tomorrow.