Severe Thunderstorm Watch Through 10 p.m. for NYC and Philadelphia; Gusts Up to 75 mph Possible

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center has issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the New York City and Philadelphia regions through 10 p.m. Saturday, warning that damaging wind gusts as high as 75 mph are possible as storms move east across the Northeast.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 281 was issued at 4:45 p.m. EDT and covers extreme southwest Connecticut, northern Delaware, New Jersey, southeast New York, southeast Pennsylvania and adjacent coastal waters. The official watch outline includes Philadelphia and New York City, including all five boroughs.

Forecasters stressed that this is a watch, not a warning. A watch means conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms in and near the area, while local National Weather Service offices issue warnings if dangerous storms are detected or imminent. As the Storm Prediction Center put it: “REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.”

The main concern is wind. The Storm Prediction Center said, “Scattered damaging winds likely with isolated significant gusts to 75 mph possible.” It also said isolated hail up to 1 inch in diameter is possible. That matters because the National Weather Service generally defines severe thunderstorms as storms capable of producing winds of at least 58 mph and/or hail at least 1 inch wide.

The center said clusters of storms were expected to move eastward from Pennsylvania and northern Maryland into New Jersey, northern Delaware and southeast New York through late evening. For travelers and mariners, the watch also covers nearby coastal waters, and the Storm Prediction Center’s aviation discussion said storms could bring extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 65 knots.

As of the reporting check described in the research, however, the Storm Prediction Center’s preliminary “Today’s Storm Reports” page did not show confirmed tornado or hail reports, and it listed no wind reports inside the watch counties. Those reports are preliminary and can change as the evening continues, so the absence of reports at that point did not mean storms could not still intensify later.

The watch is significant because it includes some of the most densely populated parts of the Northeast as well as nearby coastal waters. Residents in the watch area should monitor updates through the evening and be prepared to act if local National Weather Service offices issue severe thunderstorm warnings for specific communities.