Visitors of the Anthracite Heritage Festival of the Arts may need an umbrella today since the National Weather Service (NWS) is calling for a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.
Severe thunderstorms have become the norm, it seems.
"There's not an exact time or place, but the atmosphere is conducive for it," said NWS Meteorologist Barry Lambert.
Severe thunderstorm warnings or watches were in effect for Northumberland and many surrounding counties Friday evening. Heavy storms resulted in a house in Hubley Township being struck by lightning Friday evening and, closer to home, power was reportedly out for a time in parts of Mount Carmel.
Northumberland County residents can expect higher temperatures in the 70s after a crazy week of tornadoes, intense thunderstorms and golfball-sized hail.
"The hail was very isolated in the storm," said Lambert about the hail. "We had several storms creating it over the Susquehanna Valley." While hail is common in storms this time of year, he said, many people may not witness it because of the isolated incidents.
The hail in Northumberland County was a little over an inch in diameter, about the size of a quarter, but the hail in Schuylkill County was much larger - about the size of a baseball, he said.
In Schuylkill County, the second tornado of the week touched down Thursday. This one occurred in North Manheim Township, a half-mile west of Cressona. Although no one was hurt, the storm left a few people temporarily homeless, including the residents of the apartments at the former Seven Stars Hotel, which is a mile north of the Cressona Mall. The storm ripped off the hotel's roof. The storm also left 9,000 people in Schuylkill County without power, but power was restored to about 4,000 Friday.
NWS was expecting Friday night to include even more scattered severe storms, traveling from the south-southeast section of the county to the north-northeast section.
By the end of Memorial Day weekend, the temperatures are expect to hit 90 degrees and above for the first time this year, he said.