ABC NewsBY: DANIEL MANZO, ABC NEWS
(NEW YORK) — Severe storms continue to form along a cold front that is currently moving through the central U.S. From Utah to Ohio, there have been at least 130 severe weather reports so far from this system.
Some of those reports included up to baseball-size hail Friday in Colorado and several wind gusts of more than 70 mph in Illinois and Indiana.
Radar is showing two main clusters of storms associated with this storm system Saturday morning. One is in the central Plains and another is rapidly moving towards the Northeast. Storms moving through the central Plains have brought wind gusts up to 80 mph in northern Missouri, and 3 to 6 inches of rain in central Kansas.
Storms will rapidly enter the Northeastern U.S. Saturday morning, with some gusty winds and heavy rain moving into New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Some of the storms will likely remain strong as the head into New England, and then another round of storms will fire up and move into parts of the Philadelphia and New York City metro areas Saturday afternoon, where damaging winds, large hail and brief tornadoes will be possible.
The action will shift south into the Carolinas and Virginias Sunday, where damaging winds, brief tornadoes and large hail will also be possible.
Meanwhile out west, a pattern change will bring the next round of fire danger for the region. Temperatures are cooling down from their peak earlier this week, but the change in temperature is bringing dry, gusty winds as well. There is a large area from California to Colorado under some type of fire weather alert over the next few days.
In Florida, the heat index will reach above 100 degrees in much of the state again this weekend. This comes after Tampa hit 99 degrees on Friday, which tied the all-time record high last set on June 5, 1985.
The Saharan dust has moved into the eastern U.S. and is bringing some air quality concerns to some regions, including New Orleans, Birmingham, Alabama and Louisville, Kentucky.
For most Americans, the only notable impact from Saharan dust will be some scenic sunsets and sunrises as well has some haze. For most meteorologists, the most notable impact from the Saharan Dust is the complete shutdown of the tropical season temporarily. For individuals that have sensitive respiratory concerns, the Saharan Dust could aggravate those existing health issues.
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