WASHINGTON — The National Weather Service (NWS) is warning of an increased urban flood threat Thursday afternoon across the Mid-Atlantic, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia as another round of potent thunderstorms are expected to develop over the region.

Flood Watches have been issued from Harrisburg to Philadelphia and south through Baltimore to Washington, D.C.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, hourly rain rates could exceed 2 inches per hour in some places.

“Localized rain totals of over 2 to 3 inches are possible within any slower-moving storms,” the FOX Forecast Center said.

These storms are part of a summer weather pattern, where rounds of storms are expected to develop in the evening and afternoon through Friday.

Thursday Severe Weather Threat
(SOURCE GOES HERE)

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NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC) has issued a Level 2 out of 4 risk of flash flooding Thursday across southern Pennsylvania, central and southern New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C. northern Virginia and eastern West Virginia.

“Locally significant urban flash flood impacts are possible if heavier cells end up over a sensitive urban location,” the NWS office in Washington, D.C./Baltimore said early Thursday.

Expected rainfall
(FOX Weather)

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In addition to downpours, damaging wind gusts are expected to be the main severe weather hazard.

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has issued a Level 2 out of 5 risk of severe storms for much of the same region, with the most damaging winds expected closer to the coast.

Thunderstorms raced across Virginia and North Carolina on Wednesday, the latest in a stretch of active weather that disrupted July 4 celebrations across the region and brought widespread flash flooding across the Northeast earlier this week.

Flooding inside BJ’s Wholesale Club in Ocean Township, New Jersey, on July 6, 2026.

(Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office / FOX Weather)

According to the FOX Forecast Center, more than 12,000 damaging wind reports have been recorded by the SPC across the Lower 48 this year, with the majority occurring across the Midwest and East Coast.

“That is well above the typical pace for mid-July, when the average is around 8,700 reports — more than 3,000 fewer than this year’s total. In fact, July 4 was the busiest day of the year for severe weather reports across the East, with damaging winds accounting for most of those reports,” the FOX Forecast Center said.