Please note: Earlier this morning, our webmaster was archiving weather alerts issued by the Avalon Office of Emergency Management from prior storm events in an effort to improve performance of our emergency website. A notice of a prior storm event from a few years ago may have been set to you in error. That issue was immediately corrected. Thank you.
The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Avalon and nearby shore communities for Thursday, July 28th, until 12 Midnight. A Flash Flood Watch is also in effect through Friday evening. The potential exists for heavy thunderstorm to impact our region anytime through Friday evening. These storms could produce significant rainfall and flooding of local streets and intersections. If you hear thunder or see lightning, seek shelter immediately. Never attempt to drive on any street that is flooded as it puts you and your vehicle at risk. If you lose electricity during any storm event, please report your outage to Atlantic City Electric at 1-800-833-7476. Please continue to monitor traditional media outlets for updates to the forecast over the next 36 hours.
Here is the text of the updated Flash Flood Watch issued by the National Weather Service:
Flash Flood Watch now in effect from 2 PM EDT this afternoon through Friday evening... The Flash Flood Watch is now in effect for * portions of Delaware... northeast Maryland... southern New Jersey and southeast Pennsylvania... including the following areas... in Delaware... Delaware beaches... inland Sussex... Kent and New Castle. In northeast Maryland... Caroline... Cecil... Kent MD... Queen Annes and Talbot. In southern New Jersey... Atlantic... Atlantic coastal Cape May... Camden... Cape May... coastal Atlantic... coastal ocean... Cumberland... Gloucester... northwestern Burlington... ocean... Salem and southeastern Burlington. In southeast Pennsylvania... Delaware... eastern Chester... eastern Montgomery... Philadelphia... western Chester and western Montgomery. * From 2 PM EDT this afternoon through Friday evening * scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop this afternoon in the Delmarva and expand northward into southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey through this evening. Some of the thunderstorms will contain torrential rainfall and result in a localized flash flood threat. Showers will become more widespread late tonight into Friday and contain embedded thunderstorms that could produce additional heavy rainfall over the area. * The axis of heaviest rain still remains uncertain. However, the potential for localized rainfall amounts of 2 or more inches in one hour will bring the risk for flash flooding particularly in urban areas. Isolated rainfall amounts of 4 inches or more are possible during this event where storms move repeatedly over the same area. Precautionary/preparedness actions... A Flash Flood Watch means that conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding. Flash flooding is a very dangerous situation. You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action should flash flood warnings be issued.