National Weather Service issues tornado watch for Washington County and southeast areas
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for Washington County and other nearby Maryland counties until 10 p.m. Sunday, June 8.
The watch was issued at 2:25 p.m. on June 8 and also includes Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Howard, Charles, Calvert and St. Mary's counties.
Local radar around 2:45 p.m. showed the leading area of showers pushing off to the northeast of the Hagerstown area with scattered showers to the south and west, said meteorologist Andrew Snyder with the weather service's Baltimore/Washington Forecast Office.
However, the weather system was expected to strengthen over the next few hours into thunderstorms and some could become severe, Snyder said.
Storm season has begun: What to know in Washington County, Maryland
The scattered thunderstorms that could develop would have the potential to be strong to severe, with the main threat being damaging winds, Snyder said. There could be a tornado or two across the area as well as hail, though giant hail was not expected, he said.
The watch is a call to be alert for potential severe weather, to be prepared and have a way to receive weather warnings and seek shelter if a warning is issued, Snyder said.
There was no tornado watch in effect for nearby Franklin County, Pa., as of 3:15 p.m. June 8.
Meteorologist Barry Lambert, with the State College, Pa., Forecast Office, said the forecast calls for some storms to move into the area later on June 8 from the west, with storms forming over the southwest corner of Pennsylvania.
With the tornado watch to the south of the Mason-Dixon Line, weather officials are thinking the strongest convection could be down that way, he said. The Storm Prediction Center, based in Oklahoma, issues those watches, he said.
That doesn't mean a stronger storm couldn't form and form a tornado around the boundary of the watch between Washington and Franklin counties, Snyder said. The watch is issued for areas with the best conditions that could lead to such weather.
The weather service did have a hazardous weather outlook still in effect around 3:15 p.m. June 8 that includes Franklin and Fulton counties. That outlook calls for potential showers and thunderstorms on June 8 that could create gusty winds and heavy enough rain to cause isolated flooding issues along a few small streams and in poor drainage areas.
There also is potential for thunderstorms with gusty winds and heavy rain throughout the coming week.
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This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: NWS issues tornado watch for several Maryland counties
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