Parts of the Tri-State were under a tornado warning Wednesday night as severe weather moved into the area, and the National Weather Service kept a tornado watch in effect for the entire region until 5 a.m. Thursday. Damaging winds up to 70 mph, large hail, heavy rain, flash flooding and a few tornadoes were all possible.
That is why people in the Tri-State were watching WLWT weather updates closely Wednesday night. The threat was expected to stay highest overnight, with strong-to-severe storms moving in between midnight and 6 a.m. and showers and thunderstorms continuing from midnight to about 5 a.m. Thursday.
Parts of the Tri-State were also under an enhanced risk level 3 out of 5 for severe weather, while a majority remained in a slight risk level 2 out of 5. Overnight strong winds were expected to build, with gusts over 35 mph possible, adding another layer of risk to a system already capable of producing dangerous weather.
The watch covered the whole Tri-State even though only parts of the region were under a tornado warning, a reminder that the most serious impacts were not spread evenly across the map. Flooding, downed trees and scattered power outages could still cause problems during the morning commute, even in areas that never saw a warning.
Storms were expected to clear between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. Thursday, though lingering showers could stick around until the afternoon before moving out. Temperatures were expected to be back in the low 80s again, then fall into the upper 50s by Friday morning before rebounding into the upper 70s Friday afternoon under mostly sunny skies.
For readers tracking Wlwt weather, the key question Wednesday night was not whether storms would arrive, but which parts of the Tri-State would take the hardest hit before daybreak.
