Potentially severe thunderstorms are expected to lash the New York City metro area later Thursday, bringing the threat of damaging straight-line wind and hail as we kick off one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

At 2 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a severe thunders storm watch from the eastern Dakotas all the way across the northern third of Minnesota. The watch, in effect until 9 p.m., includes Fargo, Grand Forks, Bemidji, Brainerd, Grand Rapids and Duluth.