BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A severe weather threat is on tap for Sunday, with damaging winds possible in the Lehigh Valley, though forecasters say a tornado threat has shifted away from the area.
The possibility for "a couple of tornadoes" is primarily now in western and central Pennsylvania, forecasters said in updates Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service warned of a line of strong to severe storms expected to move northwest to southeast.
Storms are expected to move through the Poconos between 5 to 7 p.m., reaching the I-95 corridor around 9 to 11 p.m.
The primary threat with the storms is locally damaging wind gusts, a day after the Lehigh Valley had yet another wind advisory.
The setup
A wind advisory was left to expire well before sunset Saturday, even as the strongest gusts in the Lehigh Valley continued to ramp up.
The strongest gust of the day — at 40 mph — came just before 5 p.m., with gusts in the upper 30s as it neared 6 p.m.
On Sunday, a surge of warm, moist air will make things plenty interesting — especially in the afternoon and evening.
"The threat diminishes significantly the further south you go, as guidance has the line fizzling rather quickly once the sun goes down," the weather service said in its latest forecast discussion.
As a cold front approaches, with showers and thunderstorms developing out ahead of it, a severe weather outbreak is likely.
Risks in the Lehigh Valley
The line of storms is expected to arrive right around sunset or even later.
The Storm Prediction Center still has Carbon and Monroe counties and parts of the Lehigh Valley at a slight (2 out of 5) risk for severe weather.
Good morning! The threat for severe weather this evening has lowered some but the best chances still look to be across the Poconos and into portions of the Lehigh Valley and NW NJ. For complete local forecast details, please visit https://t.co/ka2HFv1KuB. #PAwx #NJwx #DEwx #MDwx pic.twitter.com/sWLOtSTyed
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) April 14, 2024
"Initial development should be focused along the front across parts of eastern OH into western/central PA, with additional development eventually occurring into eastern PA and parts of southern NY," the SPC said in its latest update, saying "large hail may occur with the more robust cores initially. Some threat for a couple of tornadoes may also exist" for areas west of the Lehigh Valley.
"Scattered damaging winds will likely become the main threat with these clusters through the early evening in a narrow spatial corridor extending from eastern OH into PA," the update said.
A tornado thumped Allentown’s Midway Manor neighborhood last summer, rated as an EF-1 packing 100 mph winds.
It was on the ground for 0.3 miles and two minutes, tore roofs from homes and scattered debris but caused no fatalities or injuries.
The twister went unwarned due to the type of system it was part of.
