Turning up the heat in the Northeast

Oklahoma City dealt with severe weather on Tuesday, including some tornado activity in the metro area. That region remains a focus of bad weather ahead, with near-daily severe storm threats. From there to the northeast, a frontal zone is threatening scattered flooding. To its south and east, it is turning quite toasty.

Weather Watch

More rain in the Plains. Multiple zones of scattered flooding potential exist today, from the Desert Southwest to the East Coast. The primary causes are the remnants of a slow-moving upper low in the west and a crawling frontal zone in the central and eastern U.S. Up to around 4 inches is forecast around Oklahoma City in days to come. Percolating severe weather will also persist.

Southeast low. The National Hurricane Center is still watching an area of disturbed weather near Florida that is menacing the Southeast U.S. coastline. It continues to run a meager 10 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone but will produce heavy rain for the Carolina coast as it sits nearby. An area of up to 8 inches of rain is expected just offshore.

Lightning links

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It’s beginning to look a lot like summer (part 2)

The warmest days of the year so far are on the way for much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Wednesday is also the first day of poor air quality from ozone developing in the daytime heat. Code Oranges are in effect for much of the urban corridor into parts of Maine.

Low-level ozone is born of fossil fuel exhausts from things like vehicles and power plants — plus chemicals from many sources — interacting with sun and heat. It is most common in summer and in urban environments.

In the Code Orange area, officials are warning of risk to those sensitive to bad air, such as those with heart or lung diseases as well as the very young and elderly.

Records highs are a good bet Wednesday as far north as Plattsburgh in northern New York, where it is forecast to reach 89 degrees. On Thursday, readings above 90 are anticipated in much of Southern New England.

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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