NWS Wakefield Severe Weather Briefing - Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:01]Okay, good morning everyone. We're going to go ahead and get started with our special severe weather briefing today, Wednesday, May 27th, highlighting the potential for bit more significant elevated severe weather risk compared to what we've seen over the past couple of days.

[00:00:18]I'm going to start off here and show the radar that we get radar and satellite just to kind of give a give an idea of what we're currently looking at.

[00:00:28]Right now, the situation we have some showers and beginning to see some thunderstorms as well develop across far northern parts of Virginia, West Virginia, even uh into Maryland as well this point. And this activity will slowly begin to make [snorts] its way south into the local area later this afternoon into this evening. We'll see this push south while potentially intensifying as well.

[00:00:55]These breaks in the clouds here on the satellite, this will help to maybe enhance the severe weather as well. More More sunshine, better instability this afternoon.

[00:01:06]Let me jump back over into the main briefing.

[00:01:19]Again, so here is our severe weather outlook for this afternoon with the yellow color, that's light risk, a level two out of five risk for much of the northern half of our local forecast area, much of the northern half of the state of Virginia as well.

[00:01:37]With a marginal risk, a one out of five risk for pretty much the entire remaining portions of the area not covered in that slight risk.

[00:01:45]Really looking at again those scattered showers and storms to develop as we head later into this afternoon um and into this evening as well.

[00:01:55]The best potential timing area-wide 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. and we'll I'll break it down in the sections here in just a moment. I really wanted to to kind of point out the main risk today is the potential for some damaging wind gusts 45 to 60 plus miles per hour is the main threat with any stronger storms that can develop today.

[00:02:16]Maybe a low-end threat for some hail but certainly the main threat today will be just damaging winds.

[00:02:24]Um tornado threat obviously couldn't 100% ruled out but extremely low overall risk today compared to the wind, hail and then we'll also be looking at the potential for maybe some localized flooding as well but maybe not as much as we've seen the past few days mainly due to that storm motion. These will be moving along at least 30 to maybe 35 miles per hour.

[00:02:50]Um so a little bit a little bit more of movement with what does form today compared to maybe the previous days where some of these storms are either very slow moving or stationary over some locations.

[00:03:04]Again breaking down that risk the tornado very low to no threat in the tornado aspect really just that damaging wind and that highest potential covers where that slight that two out of five risk area is at. Again much of the northern you know two-thirds roughly of our forecast area.

[00:03:23]Um certainly still a threat further south as well but the highest potential is roughly again that northern you know kind of north of our office to the northern borders of our forecast area today.

[00:03:34]Hey and they can't rule out the potential for maybe some small hail as well. Again maybe the northern half of the area is favored the most.

[00:03:44]And looking at the potential storm timing really kind of the early to mid-afternoon hours things get going just north of us, uh spreading further south by the roughly the 3:00 p.m. time frame which is the northern half of the area and just continuing to that east southeast movement throughout the afternoon evening. You know, Richmond metro area roughly 4:00 5:00 ish is when the storms will be moving through the area.

[00:04:12]And then better potential later in the evening into the overnight hours as you go further to the south and east across Hampton Roads and North Carolina um as well.

[00:04:25]I will show the Let me back out of this. I will show just a simulated model reflectivity radar for what we're expecting for this potential for the afternoon as we go through the afternoon hours here.

[00:04:38]This might be just a little bit fast um compared to what we think, but again, roughly kind of that 2:00 to 3:00 window you see maybe a line of showers and storms what we were currently seeing up north makes its way to the south roughly 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. time frame.

[00:04:56]Uh we start to see those showers and storms make it into the northern portions of the area. As we continue to go forward in time again, maybe like that 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. window, the storms are on the doorstep of Richmond over to the eastern shore, northern neck those locations.

[00:05:11]And then as we progress through the evening, we're up to about 6:00 here and then later through the evening 8:00 9:00, things begin to progress further to the south, but again, really that rough window we'll call it from about 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. would be that highest threat for severe weather today.

[00:05:32]Let me head back to the main presentation.

[00:05:42]And I'll talk about the rain as well.

[00:05:44]Again, maybe not the highest of the threats compared to the past few days, but we still do have that marginal at least that marginal chance for flash flooding, heavy rainfall for a good portion of the area today, but again, the at least the storm motion today will be quicker than what we've seen, but still there could be some very localized, you know, heavy rainfall with any storms that do form today.

[00:06:10]The total precipitation amounts again will vary widely depending on where and when the storms form, but um you could see 1-in plus in certain locations.

[00:06:23]And then just looking ahead as well past today, I will say some, you know, drier weather and maybe cooler closer to average weather is expected after we kind of get through today and that that cold front makes its way south of the area.

[00:06:35]Um you looking ahead through the week again, very comfortable temperatures coming up here once we get past today, and then rain chances fall off drastically compared to what we've seen as we once we get through basically tonight, first part of tomorrow, you know, very low chances from tomorrow through the weekend into early next week as well.

[00:06:57]Finally, wanted to show one more item here. Let me back out.

[00:07:07]A little bit uh more technical here, but just looking at some of the instability across the area right now.

[00:07:14]Um focus mainly across northern parts of the area, and we will see this start to spread south as that front progresses, um and we see some of that clearing to the south. And that's what will fuel these storms as they make their way south across the area today.

[00:07:31]And that is all I have. I'm open for any questions, otherwise everyone have a nice day.