Flood watch issued for parts of area Friday, heavy showers & storms

BALTIMORE -- After a beautiful, sunny, and less muggy afternoon, showers and thunderstorms return Friday with heavy downpours.

Temperatures Thursday afternoon still managed to reach the lower 90s, but with a huge drop in the humidity and a nice breeze out of the west, the weather outside feels much more inviting. We'll see a nice evening ahead of us with a partly cloudy sky. Temperatures will gradually fall into the upper 70s by midnight.

The cold front that swept the humidity offshore Wednesday night will return westward as a warm front late tonight through Friday. This front will then stall out across the region. Along and behind this front numerous showers and thunderstorms will quickly develop late tonight into Friday morning along with a sharp rise in humidity. Since the air will become so tropical, the threat for torrential downpours exists, especially along and east of I-95.

Rainfall totals to the west of I -95 should be mainly an inch or less. Along I-95 an inch to an inch and a half of rainfall is possible. East of I-95 is the best chance for widespread rainfall totals of 1.5" to 3" with localized rainfall totals of up to 4". Any area that receives repetitive torrential downpours could see flooding, especially across the eastern shore and also in the more urbanized and poor drainage areas inland. Highs on Friday will only reach near 80° with the numerous showers & storms.

Flood watches have been issued for Friday and Friday night for Cecil county and all of our eastern shore counties including Kent, Queen Anne's, Caroline, and Talbot.

More showers and storms are possible Friday night into early Saturday morning, especially along and east of I-95. Saturday will see some sunshine returning, especially during the late morning into afternoon hours. A few isolated storms will still be possible Saturday afternoon. Highs on Saturday spike to near 90°.

Intense heat and some humidity start to build back into the area Sunday. Highs will top out in the middle 90s with feels like temperatures around 100°.

The heat will continue to grow worse early to mid next week with highs in the upper 90s to near 100°. Feels like temperatures will be in the low to mid 100s. The humidity Monday and Tuesday may not be quite as oppressive as earlier this week, but the heat will still be rather intense. Isolated storms are possible Monday and Tuesday afternoon with more widespread stronger thunderstorms possible Wednesday afternoon and evening.

The heat wave will break with scattered storms Thursday and highs in the middle 80s. We should see at least a several day break from the brutal heat late next week into early next weekend.