July 1. Mother Nature will threaten Fourth of July travel and holiday plans as severe storms, record heat and wildfire smoke converge on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
AAA projects more than 50 million people will take to the roads or skies over the next few days, and millions of them will have to contend with potential disruptions from storms.
More than 100 million people face the risk of damaging winds, tornadoes or hail in the next 48 hours. This, after tens of thousands of flight delays and thousands of flight cancellations have created travel chaos for more than a week.
Atlanta, St Louis, Nashville, and Cincinnati face the biggest threat for air travel disruptions Saturday. For Sunday, storms in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic could cause interruptions to major airports in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
A level 3 of 5 enhanced risk for severe storms is in place for portions of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, including St. Louis and Louisville on Saturday.
By Sunday, the highest chance for severe storms stretches from western Kentucky to New Jersey. Strong storms are also a concern farther west in cities such as Denver, Colorado Springs and Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The high pressure responsible for the ongoing heat wave across the South will erode as the severe storms shift eastward. That will help temperatures drop ever so slowly east across the central US.
But as temperatures begin to cool down in some areas this weekend, others will actually see temperatures spike.
Source: CNN
