Strong thunderstorms have caused one death and left more than 200,000 people without power across southern states, with flooding affecting the North-East due to a powerful storm system, forecasters said.
Hot and humid air in some states is increasing the risk of tornadoes as the storm system moves from the Midwest into the Northeast on Thursday evening.
Severe weather including damaging winds, hail and tornadoes, are expected in Alabama and Georgia all the way up the Eastern Seaboard to Pennsylvania.
Fallen trees ripped down power lines and crashed into buildings along a line from Texas to Alabama overnight and into Thursday morning, the National Storm Prediction Center reported. A few isolated tornadoes were reported, damaging roofs in the northeast Texas city of Greenville.
Thunderstorms caused one death and left more than 200,000 people without power across southern states, with flooding affecting the North-East. A man in a home along High Street in Westville, New Jersey, (pictured), waits for rescuers to come back for him after overnight thunderstorms flooded much of the borough on Thursday
Chris Smith, (pictured), makes his way through floodwaters to the Macedonia Baptist Church in Westville on Thursday. The National Weather Service Senior Forecaster Mike Edmonston said storms on Wednesday night brought winds as fast as 62 mph to parts of the region
Severe storms containing heavy rains and strong winds spurred flooding across southern New Jersey. Two men inspect the damage caused by the floodwaters on Broadway, Westville on Thursday
Rescuers guide boats on High St as they bring people to safety after overnight thunderstorms flooded much of Westville
A lone car, once submerged in flood waters, sits caked in mud along Main Street on Wednesday,in Grafton, Illinois , which was heavily impacted by flooding when the Mississippi River rose to 30.2 feet
In Mississippi, Jackson Salter, 19, died when a tree fell on his home Wednesday night, Washington County Coroner Methel Johnson told The Delta Democrat-Times.
Meanwhile, more than 70,000 homes and businesses were without power in Arkansas, and more than 30,000 outages each were reported in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama, where crews are out working to remove toppled trees and clear blocked roads.
An area that includes North and South Carolina, eastern Georgia and southern Virginia will see an enhanced risk of wind damage from powerful Thursday afternoon storms, the Storm Prediction Center said. The region is home to 15.6 million people and includes Charlotte, North Carolina.
Downburst winds – strong winds that descend from a thunderstorms and spread out when they hit the ground – appear to be the greatest threat in this area Thursday, said Dan Miller, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Columbia, South Carolina.
Stormchaser Justin Noonan recorded footage of a ‘super-cell’ swirling above Borger on the Texas Penhandle on Tuesday
Noonan made a time-lapse of the cloud on Tuesday night, which is captivating and terrifying in equal measure to observe
Such winds hold the potential for serious damage, such as bringing trees and power lines down and tearing into the shingles and siding on homes, he said.
‘It’s expected to all come together this afternoon and early evening,’ Miller said on Thursday morning.
There is a current risk of some tornadoes and very large hail to flood-weary residents of the Missouri River Valley in the Midwest, he added.
In Ohio, heavy rains led to landslides and flooded highways. The Riverbend Music Center along the Ohio River east of Cincinnati postponed a Thursday evening show that was to feature country star Brantley Gilbert. The venue cited heavy rainfall and the rising river.
In central Ohio, high water forced closure of numerous roads in Columbus and part of Interstate 71 near Grove City Wednesday night.
A super-cell is characterized as a thunderstorm with a deep, persistently rotating updraft. The movement of the super-cell is illustrated above
Strong damaging winds, and tornadoes can often accompany these storms. Strong damaging winds, and tornadoes can often accompany these storms
Police in western Ohio’s Bellefontaine said a hospital emergency room reopened Thursday after several inches of water rushed in Wednesday.
Rain in southwestern Ohio led to a landslide on a Cincinnati-area parkway and a second landslide closed part of State Route 7 in eastern Ohio’s Jefferson County.
Heavy rainfall caused travel problems, flooding commuter train stations and forcing service to be suspended between Philadelphia and New Jersey on Thursday. The Delaware River was overflowing its banks in places, and people had to be rescued from high water.
Dozens of people in Westville, New Jersey, had to evacuated from their homes due to flooding on Thursday, leaving cars stranded and prompting dramatic water rescues.
Flash flooding also caused standing water as high as car roofs, cutting people off from the street, CBS Philly reported.
Resident Michael Hess, whose basement was flooded, claimed it is the most severe weather he has seen in decades. He helped first responders load some of his animals onto a boat as he evacuated the area.
Debris lies on the ground in Beech Grove, Indiana, after a tornado moved through the area on Saturday. Weather officials say severe storms in central Indiana caused floods and produced several tornadoes which continued into this week
Dozens of people in Westville, New Jersey were evacuated from their homes due to flooding as South Jersey was hit especially hard, leaving cars stranded and prompting dramatic water rescues
Parishioners pump out floodwater inside the Macedonia Baptist Church in Westville on Thursday, as homes and businesses were damaged
A dumpster floats on floodwater along Broadway in Westville on Thursday. Flash flooding caused standing water as high as car roofs, cutting people off from the street
He told CBS Philly: ‘Three dogs got out, they did good, half my chickens didn’t though. Unfortunately, they got stuck in the coop, but the other ones made it out. We got them in the garage, they’re dry.’
A supermarket roof collapsed in suburban Philadelphia, causing sprinkler system pipes to break and send water gushing down.
Four people and a dog in a central Illinois village had to be rescued by police dive teams from rising waters during flash flooding after heavy rainstorms.
The flooding in Illinois happened as severe weather Wednesday and Thursday struck several parts of the United States, leaving more than 200,000 people without power across the South and flooding neighborhoods near Philadelphia.
In Illinois, several homeowners in Bethany, southeast of Springfield, were cut off Wednesday afternoon. The Decatur Herald & Review reports that at least one car became submerged.
The flooding was part of unseasonably wet weather across the region. Much of central Illinois was under a flash flood watch or warning Wednesday.
Meanwhile, stormchaser Justin Noonan recorded incredible footage of a ‘super-cell’ swirling above Borger on the Texas Penhandle as tornado-like weather affected the area on Tuesday.
Noonan, who divides his time between Australia and the US, made a time-lapse of the impressive cloud on the night, which is captivating and terrifying in equal measure to observe.
A super-cell is characterized as a thunderstorm with a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Super-cells are the least common form of thunderstorm yet they are potentially the most violent. Strong damaging winds, and tornadoes can often accompany these storms.
While the weather has proved to be a mixed bag of flooding, tornadoes and heavy rain, forecasters predict that New York and other states along the East Coast will benefit from above average temperatures from July to August.
Cooler temperatures in middle America and relatively warmer climes along the West and East Coasts will prevail from next month until the start of fall, according to an outlook released by The Weather Company.
Cool temperatures in middle America and relatively warmer climes along the West and East Coasts will happen this Summer
July temperatures will be highest across the Florida Peninsula, while much of the South, East and West Coast can expect near- or slightly above-average conditions
Below- average temperatures are likely from eastern Wyoming and northeastern Colorado into southern North Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, Iowa and northwestern Missouri
Temperatures may run cooler than average from New Mexico and Colorado into southwestern Iowa and Missouri
Forecasters have observed this trend across much of the United States since May. Dr. Todd Crawford, chief meteorologist at The Weather Company, claimed higher than average amounts of precipitation is one of the main drivers for the cooler temperatures in parts of the West, Plains and Midwest.
He explained that soil moisture can greatly affect temperatures and is above average in much of the Central Plains.
Some of the solar energy that would heat the land and the air near the ground is instead used for evapotranspiration – a natural method where water is transferred to the atmosphere by pulling water from soil and plant life back to the air.
This is why temperatures are expected to be cooler compared to what they would normally be.
Based on current climate predictions, the Southeast is expected be the warmest part of the of the nation and above seasonal averages from July through to September.
As a result, below-average temperatures are more likely to occur in the northern Plains and Great Lakes and above-average temperatures are expected across the southern part of the U.S. and the Northwest.
Dr Crawford explained that the U.S will see a largely mild July due to a ‘combination of the North Atlantic blocking signal, record soil-moisture levels and continued weak El Niño conditions,’ he added.
The National Weather Service said showers and thunderstorms over parts of the Northeast to the Great Lakes and on to the Southeast that will slowly move off most of the East Coast by Friday afternoon.
In a forecast it added: ‘The energy will produce rain and showers/thunderstorms over parts of the Northern Plains, on Thursday morning, that will slowly move into parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley by Thursday evening, slowly dissipating overnight Thursday.’