High Winds, Hail Expected With Wednesday Storms
The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch until 9 p.m.
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UPDATED (Wednesday, 4 p.m.)—Harford County is under a severe thunderstorm watch and a heat advisory until 9 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service announced.
The watch covers 13 counties in Maryland, including Harford.
There is a chance of storms throughout the day.
Harford County Emergency Manager Rick Ayers sent out an alert by automated message Wednesday afternoon saying that severe storms will impact Harford County between 4 and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
"Please plan accordingly and seek shelter if required," Ayers said.
A special weather statement for Harford County said 40-to-50-mph winds and small hail might accompany the storms.
Temperatures soared above 100 degrees Wednesday. Harford County announced that Harford County Public Libraries would double as cooling centers to combat the temperatures.
"As the region continues to experience high temperatures, exceeding 100 degrees, BGE is also preparing for potential weather-related outages from the severe thunderstorms and high wind forecasted for this afternoon," said Jeannette M. Mills, vice president and chief customer officer for BGE in a press release.
BGE officials said in a statement they might activate the company’s voluntary energy demand response program, called PeakRewards, "which helps lower the cost of electricity."
The company activated PeakRewards for about two hours Tuesday, officials said.
"This program is critical to helping the company and the electric grid operator for the region reduce peak demand and keep the electric system balanced, particularly during periods of high demand," officials said in a statement.
Also, Harford County Emergency Operations Center recently requested that residents add their cell phones to the alerts system in order to better serve the community during weather-related emergencies.
Make sure you're equipped to know when severe weather is coming.
See all of Patch's emergency communication tools here:
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Patch editor Lisa Rossi contributed to this report.
Richard S*****r
6:34 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
What happen to this....? I'm in Bel Air and haven't seen a drop of rain.
DeDe
7:55 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Yeah, whatchoo talkin 'bout, Willis? No storms here in Bel Air. Not even rain. Geez.
Kate_archived
7:57 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
It went poof, that's what, haha
Pamela
7:17 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Weatherman...you get paid whether you lie on a regular basis or not!
Take Responsibility!
7:56 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
You crybabies would be the same ones whining there was no warning. There were MEAN looking storms coming our way and guess what, they dissipated. I wonder what would happen to people if they didn't have something to complain about?
Terry
9:47 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Sure could have used the rain here in my Bel Air neighborhood. Just heard the thunde rin the distance
LB
10:38 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
We got all excited about the rain coming, started happy hour early and sat out on the covered porch and waited, and waited and waited...
Lots of wind and dust, but not a drop of rain.
DeDe
10:40 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Take Responsibility: Geez, are we having a bad day?? The first three posts aren't complaints. Just people stating facts.
Sean Welsh
11:06 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
In Aberdeen and Havre de Grace, we avoided anything major, other than some dark clouds, wind and distant thunder.
Here's a look at today's weather: http://aberdeen.patch.com/articles/thursday-weather-90-degrees-afternoon-storms
Sean