30 million people in the Northeast under severe thunderstorm watch (2024)

A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for parts of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Monday afternoon by the Storm Prediction Center. The watch is in effect for more than 30 million people until 9:00 p.m. EDT Monday.

New York City, Philadelphia and Newark, New Jersey, are just a few of the major metropolitan areas within the watch.

Damaging wind gusts up to 65 mph, hail and tornadoes are the main threats with any storms in the watch area Monday afternoon.

President Joe Biden spoke with governors of states impacted by severe storms on Monday, the White House said.

Biden talked on the phone with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott following “devastating tornadoes across the Southern Plains,” according to the White House.

“He expressed his condolences for the lives lost in each state,” the statement said. “The Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground conducting damage assessments with state and local counterparts.”

Biden “reiterated that he has directed his administration to provide federal support as needed,” the White House said.

Some context: CNN previously reported the sprawling severe storms pounding the eastern half of the United States on Sunday created so much hazardous weather it was the most active severe storm day of the year.

There were at least 632 preliminary reports of severe weather Sunday spanning from Wyoming to New Hampshire, according to Storm Prediction Center data. The previous high was 565 reports on May 8.

Severe thunderstorms will track through a significant portion of the Northeast's highly populous I-95 corridor this afternoon and evening with the threat of damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes. Some cities may encounter multiple rounds of storms.

Here's when the greatest threat for damaging storms is expected Monday in several major cities. All times are local.

Washington, DC:

Baltimore:

Philadephia:

New York City:

Five rare tornado emergencies were issued by the National Weather Service as tornadoes carved a deadly path through the US over the weekend.

Tornado emergencies are the most dire tornado warnings and are only issued when a tornado threatens catastrophic damage and loss of life, often in a populated area. Nearly 70,000 tornado warnings have been issued in the past 25 years, but just more than 300 have risen to the level of a tornado emergency, according to data from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

There have already been 14 tornado emergencies in the US this year, including the five since Friday, with one in Texas and four in Kentucky.

On average, about a dozen tornado emergencies occur in the US each year, but that number is skewed significantly by the devastating 2011 severe season, which had 60. Only a handful of tornado emergencies happen in many years.

Four of the weekend’s tornado emergencies occurred on Sunday in Kentucky. The emergencies accounted for a fraction of the more than 100 tornado warnings issued by the National Weather Service that day.

Sunday marked the sixth day this year with 100 or more tornado warnings, the second-most on record for a single year. Only 2011 had more with nine days.

Severe weather and tornados prompted Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to issue a statewide emergency declaration last night to make sure resources are available in the aftermath.

In addition to the statewide emergency declaration, 14 counties and 5 cities issued emergency declarations of their own, Beshear said.

Beshear said during a news conference that currently, there 174,586 customers without power and "crews working around the clock to make sure power is restored."

He said that for many Kentuckians, especially in larger cities, power is expected to be restored today. However, in western Kentucky, it could take days until power comes back because there has been "significant damage to the power infrastructure."

At its peak, the storm knocked out power for 215,144 Kentucky customers, the governor said.

As recovery efforts begin, the National Guard has six teams joining the Division of Forestry in two counties, the governor said.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at least four people have died across the state due to severe weather this Memorial Day weekend.

“Sadly we can confirm that we have lost at least four Kentuckians from last night's storm,” Beshear said at a news conference from the KentuckyEmergency Operations Center.

"That means we know that there are at least four families this morning that have suffered the loss of a loved one less than 24 hours ago that are hurting and we ought to rally around them and do everything we can to carry them and the days the weeks and the years to come.”

The governor said a fifth person is “fighting for their life.”

The four fatalities include:

The update in Kentucky brings the nationwide death toll from the Memorial Day Weekend severe weather to at least 21.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said that devastating storms impacted almost the entire state last night.

He added they know that one tornado on the ground was "at least 40 miles and a number of other tornadoes that spun down and spun back up, we're awaiting the National Weather Service to confirm those tornadoes."

Video Credit: WxChasing / LSM

New video shows the aftermath of a tornado in southwestern Kentucky. The aerial footage over Charleston, Kentucky, shows cars tossed into the piles of debris that are remains of houses. Only the basem*nt remains in at least one of the structures.

A rare tornado emergency was issued for the area on Sunday evening, warning of a "large and destructive tornado" and urging residents to take action.

"This is a particularly dangerous situation. Take cover now!" the National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky, said.

Survey crews from the National Weather Service will visit the area to determine how strong the tornado was.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is holding a news conference to address the impact of severe weather and tornadoes that have hit the state.

At least four people died in Kentucky due to severe weather-related events.

Beshearissued a state of emergency early Monday morning as the commonwealth battled severe weather.

The National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky, is sending out at least two storm survey teams Monday to assess damage, theoffice said.

The storms — and searing heat in some states — continue to disrupt plans and cause power outages through the Memorial Day weekend as millions face severe weather threats.

This post has been updated with additional information.