August 7, 2023 Millions in Eastern US face risk of severe weather

The concert was scheduled to take place on the rooftop, overlooking New York City’s East River. 

Jepsen has another concert scheduled at Pier 17 on Tuesday. That concert has not been canceled, a spokesperson for the Pier 17 box office told CNN.

Police responded to a call at the Florence Industrial Park where “a worker in the parking lot had been struck by lightning," the statement said.

“The male victim, 28, of Florence, had succumbed to injuries he received during the storm,” the police department said.

The victim’s name is being withheld pending notification of his family, the statement said. 

Drivers in Westminster, Maryland, were stuck on the road for hours Monday night after storms knocked down several electrical poles.

Jeffrey Campbell told CNN was on his way home from work when a pole fell two cars ahead of him on Maryland Route 140. 

He said he is not able to move with live wires on the ground on either side of his truck.

Campbell said he's been stuck for almost three hours and that officials still have not been able to tell him when he will be able to get home.

As of Monday evening, Georgia had more than 214,000 customers without power while North Carolina had 195,000 more in the dark.

Maryland and Pennsylvania were also reporting more than 129,000 and 178,000 outages, respectively.

The greatest risk of widespread, potentially destructive winds is forecast to center along a corridor from western Virginia to far southern Pennsylvania.

Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware also have tens of thousands of outages each.

A bowing line of storms is moving into Philadelphia over the next 15-30 minutes. 

The line will have winds up to 70 mph. There is also potential for an embedded tornado.

Several governors are urging people to be prepared and stay alert as severe weather passes through on Monday.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore advised residents to avoid driving and to stay indoors as well as to pay attention to weather conditions.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed her administration and other local officials to be ready for clean-up and response efforts. Thunderstorms are forecasted to bring excessive rain, high winds and some isolated tornadoes to some parts of the state.

"I urge all New Yorkers to watch the weather forecast closely this week and prepare to act, if necessary, to protect yourself and others," Hochul said in a statement.

Monday’s severe weather threat across the eastern United States is formidable – but the day began for many with mostly clear or sunny skies. If it’s bright and sunny in the morning, how can there be severe thunderstorms later?

Thunderstorms need three things to bubble to life — moisture, lift and instability. Heating from sunlight fuels two of these factors.

On days without a cloud in the sky, the sun quickly and efficiently heats the ground, giving the air at the surface plenty of instability and then forcing it to rise. Rising air of this nature will quickly climb until it reaches its saturation point — the point where the air is cooled enough for rain to form — and then a storm is born.

This is lift, anything that forces air upward, and instability, a measure of how much air is able to move upward when forced via lift, in action.

Abundant instability was in place for locations like Washington, DC, after early morning clouds largely dissipated and allowed plenty of sunshine to reach the surface, leaving the atmosphere primed for dangerous storms.

Once a storm forms, it can strengthen further under the right conditions and become severe. Severe thunderstorms are then able to unleash damaging wind gusts, hail and even tornadoes.

Given enough instability, lift and moisture, thunderstorms can quickly turn a seemingly great morning to be outside into a dangerous endeavor during the day.

A line of storms is working its way up the East Coast, with Philadelphia in its path in the next hour, according to forecasts.

The storm has passed through Tennessee and Georgia with wind gusts of more than 75 miles per hour in some places, according to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. Gusts could get up to 80 miles per hour in Philadelphia, he said.

Another system of storms is also expected to impact places like Charlotte and Atlanta Monday night, Myers said.

“It’s still coming for some. As soon as it’s gone, pretty much, it’s gone for you,” Myers said, but warned that people should continue to stay inside even after the rain passes because potentially dangerous lightning has been traveling behind the storms.

Thousands of flights are being impacted by the severe summer weather barreling across the eastern United States.

Departures are also delayed, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

“The FAA is re-routing aircraft around the storms heading to the East Coast as much as possible,” the FAA posted. 

Delta Airlines has nearly 350 cancelations, or 10% of its schedule, and more than 800 flight delays, according to Flight Aware. Overall, more than 1,300 US flights have been canceled and another 5,700 are delayed, Flight Aware data shows. 

About 20% of flights flying out of Reagan National Airport and BWI have been canceled.