Important weather notification from York County Emergency Management Department:
The National Weather Service has advised all local Emergency Management agencies in the upstate to be prepared for severe weather today. It appears that our area may be affected by two separate storm fronts, similar to Monday’s storms. It is forecasted that the first round will affect our area between noon and 5:00 p.m. The difference today is the first round of storms will be from a warm, high moisture front moving from the Gulf Coast into our region. This storm may produce long periods of heavy rain, high wind gusts, heavy cloud to ground lightning, hail and a chance for short lived tornadoes. The first front is moving at a slower pace than Monday’s storm and will cause the atmosphere to be much more unstable when the second front crosses through.
The second front which is predicted to move in during the early evening hours is a cold frontal boundary that will push through the area during the night time hours. Currently it is forecasted to affect our area between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. The second front will be pushing cold air over top of the warm moist air causing more instability in the atmosphere. Therefore, the chance for long lived tornadoes may increase just ahead of the second storm and during the storm. The second storm is predicted to have wind gusts of up to 45mph with sustained winds as high as 25mph for several hours.
Please identify a safe area in your home or office and be prepared to move quickly should the need arise. Recommended safe places are the lowest level of a structure, away from exterior walls, doors and windows. If you live in vulnerable housing, please seek shelter before the storm with friends and family that live in substantially structured homes or a publicly accessible building of substantial construction such as a mall, library, etc.
For more information you can go to our website www.yorkcountygov.com/emergency, our Facebook page York County Office of Emergency Management, or follow us on twitter (@yorkcountyoem). You may also receive information from the National Weather Service website www.weather.gov/gsp.