Severe Risk Wednesday: Update

The slight risk area for Wednesday has expanded to cover the entire Mid-Atlantic region while an upper-level low pressure storm system tracks through the Great Lakes. Zach's discussion from the previous blog entry still holds, with damaging straight-line winds being our primary severe threat this afternoon and evening. However, in northern Virginia, there may be some directional wind shear this afternoon to produce rotation in any isolated storms that form, and thus tornadoes could occur.

Cloud-cover continues to be a limiting factor for storm development and heating today, as skies have remained overcast all morning in Central Virginia. Here's the visible satellite image at 9:30 AM:

The more clearing we get, the more we'll warm up this afternoon and have better instability for stronger storms. But as of 10 AM, the view over Richmond from Dominion Cam is still cloudy:

If we can't get the needed breaks in clouds this afternoon, the severe threat will likely be lower.