More than 50 million people in a wide swath are in the path of powerful thunderstorms that accumulate strong winds and torrential downpours heading east on Wednesday, forecasters said.
The National Weather Service issued a serious threat to the Big Apple and the Lower Hudson Valley from 5 to 9 pm
More than 56 million are at a slight risk of bad weather, while another 35 million are at a marginal risk, said the National Storm Service’s National Storm Prediction Center.
Strong winds could damage trees and power lines, with hail and weak tornadoes also possible, AccuWeather meteorologist Alyson Hoegg told The Post.
Storms are expected to start wreaking havoc on the Big Apple around 6 p.m., he said. Heavy rains could cause widespread flooding in poorly drained areas.
“It will primarily consist of very strong thunderstorms and damaging winds,” Hoegg said, adding that “winds of 60 miles per hour are not out of the question.”
The expected precipitation is between 1 and 1.5 inches, but up to 2 inches of rain could be thrown through the area depending on how fast the system passes, he said.
The worst should be over by 10 p.m., Hoegg added.
According to the National Weather Service, strong to severe isolated thunderstorms are also possible throughout the area from 1 to 5 pm.
“A very humid air mass that will extend eastward on Wednesday will be a key ingredient that will trigger strong thunderstorms, especially in the Central Appalachians and the Mid-Atlantic region,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Carl Babinski.
Cities that could also be affected include Pittsburgh and Bradford, Pennsylvania, and Charleston, West Virginia.
Later in the day, locations from Syracuse to State College, Pennsylvania, and Hagerstown, Maryland, will also be at risk of bad weather before storms continue east.
“By early Wednesday morning, there will be several locations near the I-95 corridor that will get much-needed relief from the intense heat and humidity, but it will come at a price,” Babinski said.
“Thunderstorms will be able to produce damaging gusts of wind, as well as a downpour that could cause flash flooding,” he added.
After the system moves through the Big Apple and Philadelphia on Wednesday night, storms are likely to weaken as they move toward New England, according to AccuWeather.
And as a cold front moves east on Thursday, locations along the I-95 corridor will again have the potential for bad weather, he added.
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