Philadelphia Weather: Tracking afternoon, evening severe weather
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A muggy morning has turned into a warm and humid afternoon, as we watch a storm system approach the area. Plan on budgeting extra time for your evening commute, as showers and thunderstorms approach, some strong to severe.
While all of us will have a chance of heavy rain (much needed!), gusty winds and hail, it's southern Jersey and Delaware that have the best chance of severe storms.
The Slight Risk
The slight risk extends from southern New Jersey through Delaware and does include Philadelphia for late this afternoon into early this evening. This is also the area that has received more sunshine today, which adds to the instability in the atmosphere.
With a warm front that's lifted north across the area, sunshine helps to "add fuel to the fire," which ripens the development of strong and severe storms.
Further north and west, areas in the Lehigh Valley and the mountains are in the "marginal risk", which is the lowest step on the severe weather ladder. In those areas, more clouds have kept an "atmospheric lid" on storm development, but heavy rain, gusty winds and even some small hail are not out of the question.
No matter where you are today, the tornado threat with this system is "low" but not zero. We'll continue to monitor.
Timing
While some of us are already seeing showers early in the afternoon Monday, the main bulk of the heavier rain and storms will hit the Philly metro between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and the Jersey Shore between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Plan accordingly and give yourself plenty of time to navigate that commute.
By 8 p.m.-10 p.m., storms move out, clearing skies move in and we'll be on our way to a beautiful Tuesday.
Beneficial rain
The good news with all of this is that for the first time since April, meaningful rainfall is making its way across the area.
While what we get through tonight won't alleviate all our dry conditions and drought issues, it'll definitely make a significant dent.
Expect many areas to top an inch, including Philadelphia, which hasn't seen this much rain since April 30 (that day we received 1.51 inches)
Stay with CBS News Philadelphia and the Next Weather team as we track and keep you ahead of the storms.