Central Pennsylvania residents should prepare for a potentially dangerous weather evening, with a flash flood watch in effect and a high risk of severe thunderstorms bringing heavy rainfall and possible damaging winds across east central Pennsylvania.

We survived several record-breaking days with excessive heat in the Philadelphia region, including the first day with temperatures above 100 degrees in nearly 13 years. As we've turned the corner, temperatures are returning to a more reasonable range for this time of the year.

The watch issued Thursday afternoon includes Berks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northumberland, Philadelphia and Schuylkill counties.