Locally severe storms to rattle part of Northeast Tuesday

Storms packing high winds, hail and torrential downpours will eye areas from the central Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic region on Tuesday.

Part of the same storm system responsible for days of severe weather in the central United States will reach the Northeast Tuesday with thundery downpours and gusty consequences, AccuWeather meteorologists alert.

"The combination of a front moving in from the Midwest and cooling at the middle levels of the atmosphere will provide an ingredient for potent thunderstorms to erupt from the eastern Great Lakes and the central Appalachians to part of the mid-Atlantic region on Tuesday," AccuWeather Regional Expert Meteorologist Dave Dombek said.

The storms will not have the same intensity as they did in the Heartland Friday to Saturday, so a significant outbreak of severe weather is not expected in the Northeast.

"If there was a strong cold front moving in with dramatic cooling going on upstairs in the atmosphere, it could be a much more serious situation for the Northeast on Tuesday," Dombek said.

The storms can still pack a punch in parts of Pennsylvania, upstate New York, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey. This includes Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Scranton, Pennsylvania; Syracuse and Binghamton, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and Winchester, Virginia. Some heavy, gusty thunderstorms will reach the northern and western suburbs of New York City, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore and could find their way through the cities.

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"Incidents of damaging wind gusts, hail and torrential downpours are likely in some of the storms in the Northeast," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Benz said, adding, "There will be a bit of a protective cool barrier in part of the region."

The barrier Benz refers to is a layer of cool, dense air in the lower part of the atmosphere -- nearest the ground.

This will prevent powerful wind gusts from thunderstorms from reaching the ground. However, there can still be drenching downpours, thunder and lightning and hail in some cases.

This boundary separating temperatures in the 50s and 60s from readings in the 70s, 80s and near 90 will extend from northern New York to the Hudson Valley southward to the immediate coast of the mid-Atlantic, including Boston, Hartford, Connecticut, and perhaps the New York City area. These cool areas and those in much of New England will be protected. However, to the south and west of this zone, the air will be warmer, more buoyant, and prone to producing strong thunderstorms.

Depending on the amount of rain that falls from the storms in Pittsburgh Tuesday, an April record may topple in the Steel City. As of Monday morning, the city had received 7.93 inches of rain thus far this month, which is number two on the all-time list. In 1901, 8.11 inches of rain fell in April. This month is less than 0.20 of an inch away from the record.

Pittsburgh and other parts of western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley have experienced river flooding due to excessive rainfall this month.

After a lull Wednesday and Thursday, the potential for more downpours and gusty thunderstorms will increase toward the weekend in the Northeast. That activity will be associated with storm systems bringing new rounds of severe weather to the Central states from Tuesday to Thursday.

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