Severe weather threat today in the Miami Valley

By Eric Elwell, Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist

The entire Miami Valley will see the potential for severe weather today with storms expected to arrive later this evening.

The Storm Prediction Center has all of the Miami Valley under an "enhanced risk" for severe storms for Friday. The storms likely will arrive after dark Friday and linger into the late night hours.

Damaging wind will be the primary concern with these storms. But we can't rule out some large hail, and even an isolated tornado as the storms arrive early in the evening. Residents should be “weather aware” and ready to take precautions as the storms move in. Because they come after dark, it will be even more difficult to see what is coming.

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The storms shouldn't last long once they arrive, but gusty winds of up to 40 mph will likely linger into Saturday as temperatures drop through the 40s.

Temperatures topped records across much of the region Thursday, including in Dayton where the temperature reached 70 degrees late in the afternoon. This broke the old record of 68 degrees set in 1985.

More: Storm system that hit California moving into the Midwest

Temperatures are expected to soar into the 70s on Friday when an all-time February high temperature of 73 degrees could be broken. But, the spring-like temperatures will fuel spring-like storms late in the evening.