Rock Hill area will have some storms this afternoon. How bad will it get?

The first outbreak of severe weather this spring season is possible Monday afternoon and evening across the Rock Hill area, forecasters say.

An area of low pressure, combined with unseasonably humid air, could trigger strong thunderstorms across the region later today. Computer guidance shows a few showers and storms breaking out by 2 or 3 p.m. across the Rock Hill area, followed by a more concentrated area of heavier storms arriving by late afternoon or early evening.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., has put the Rock Hill area in an “enhanced” risk of severe storms – the third-highest of five advisory levels. The center’s Rich Thompson says damaging wind gusts will be the main threat, but he says large hail is possible in a few of the storms.

A few showers and thunderstorms will remain in the area Tuesday, as a weak cold front moves through. But Tuesday’s storms are not expected to be severe.

Stormy weather is a rite of spring in the Carolinas, usually beginning in late February or early March, but most of the severe weather so far this season has taken place farther to the west.

“Today and tonight look like our first convectively active period of the spring season,” says meteorologist Pat Moore, of the National Weather Service office in Greer.

Sunshine that broke through low clouds Monday morning will serve to destabilize the atmosphere, forecasters say. And as the upper-level low pressure system approaches Monday afternoon, showers and storms are expected.

One constant in all this will be warm weather. Daily high temperatures are expected to be in the 70s all week, with the nicest weather – sunshine, for the most part – predicted for Wednesday and Thursday.

This story was originally published April 8, 2019 at 2:20 PM.