Parts of the central and eastern U.S. on Thursday were recovering from storms that barreled through the region this week, knocking out power, triggering evacuations, and causing multiple deaths as more thunderstorms were expected to lash the East and provide a respite from a stretch of dangerous heat.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service said strong thunderstorms were expected to hit the mid-Atlantic region throughout the latter half of the week as they move east from the Ohio and Tennessee River valleys. Major cities including Philadelphia, New York City, and Newark, New Jersey, will see scattered showers and bouts of heavy rain on Thursday and Friday, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
The storm's most intense conditions are forecast to lash the southern mid-Atlantic, where flood watches were active. The main hazards associated with the thunderstorms include frequent lightning, strong wind gusts, hail, and a "minimal threat of tornadoes," the weather service said.
Damage to trees, power lines, and roofs were expected in some areas late Thursday afternoon, as the weather service issued severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of Georgia, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Florida.
The Federal Aviation Administration also issued a ground stop at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport due to thunderstorms while several other airports across the affected region faced delays Thursday evening.
Rain could fall at rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour across northern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia, according to the weather service.
The rain, especially across the mid-Atlantic, will come as a relief to millions as cooler temperatures are expected to set in after days of heat that pushed temperatures in Washington D.C. to 100, while the mercury reached the mid-to-upper 90s in New York and Philadelphia.
Record-breaking heat to bake the Pacific Northwest
Heat warnings and advisories were active across the Pacific Northwest on Thursday as dangerous heat settled over the region, bringing potentially record-breaking temperatures to multiple states.
Anorthward bulge in a jet stream and a high-pressure areawill drive temperatures across the West, from southern California to Washington and Wyoming, into the 90s to 100s followed by little overnight relief, according to AccuWeather.
Highs in Pendleton, a city in north-central Oregon, will be within a few degrees of 103 through the weekend, while Spokane, Washington, is projected to smash its nearly 120-year-old temperature record of 103 set in 1905, AccuWeather said. Cities in Idaho and Montana were also projected to challenge daily high-temperature records.
"The multi-day nature of this event will create dangerous conditions, particularly for people who are especially vulnerable to the effects of heat, such as young children, older adults, people with chronic medical conditions, and pregnant women," the weather service said.
While extreme temperatures still posed health risks, the number of people under heat alerts Thursday dropped from over 106 million the day before to 38 million – the lowest number since June 27, according to heat.gov.
A record-breaking heat wave this summer is suspected to have already caused several dozen deaths from coast to coast in a matter of weeks.
In Arizona's Maricopa County alone, officials were investigating 322 suspected heat-related deaths, with 23 others confirmed. The public online dashboard also noted that 39% of people who died from extreme temperatures were unhoused, according to preliminary data.
Thousands without power across eastern US, Midwest
Nearly 70,000 homes and businesses on Thursday were without power across Upstate New York and parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to an outage tracker maintained by USA TODAY. Counties in central Illinois and throughout Indiana reported 33,000 outages.
On Tuesday, a barrage of intense storms moved over the region, destroying buildings, uprooting trees, and leaving over 100,000 utility customers in the dark across Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency.
In Canastota, a village about 25 miles east of Syracuse, one person was killed as a result of the storms, officials said. Meanwhile, a tornado with peak winds of 135 mph tore across the city of Rome, ripping off roofs and snapping trees. Mayor Jeffrey Lanigan said in a news conference that the city "looks like a war zone."
In the Midwest, storms spun up at least 11 tornadoes while a deluge turned roads into rivers. The heavy rain pushed a dam in Nashville, Illinois to "imminent failure," and about 200 people were evacuated. The immediate safety concern passed after the rain stopped, but the dam will require repairs, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.
In a rural part of the state, at least two people were found dead after floodwaters washed away their car.
Dozens evacuated because of Arkansas flooding
On Wednesday, the dangerous weather stretched into Arkansas, where parts of the state were inundated with nearly a foot of rain in a few hours, raising rivers above their flood table and spurring flash floods that forced officials to issue evacuation orders and rescue operations.
At least eight counties across the state reported flood impacts, including evacuated apartment buildings, a senior living facility, and flooded roadways.
The Creekside Health and Rehabilitation Senior Facility facility in Yellville, a city in northern Arkansas, reported more than 80 people had to flee because of flooding before being taken to a county community center, according to a statement from the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management.
To the East, 30-40 people in the city of Flippin evacuated from their homes, the emergency management division said. In Greenbrier, north of Little Rock, an apartment complex reported that over 30 residents had to flee because of flooding. The severe weather has mostly subsided across Arkansas, though some rivers on Thursday were still above their flood table.
Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY
