(Updated) Saturday Thunderstorm Threat Lessens

Update 4:23 p.m. Saturday:

Howard County Government officials are reporting that the National Weather Service says there is a lessened threat of thunderstorms Saturday afternoon and night.

There is now only a 50 percent of thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service.

"Last night's storm [s] were categorized as severe thunderstorms," Howard County officials wrote on the county Facebook page. "Earlier today, NWS had made the same prediction, but the weather system has since changed to only the possibility of pop-up thunderstorms hitting the area."

The National Weather Service's latest area forecast discussion can be found here.

"A repeat of last evening/s severe event appears unlikely," according to the forecast discussion, which was also covered on The Capital Weather Gang blog on the Washington Post.

Original story:

If it wasn’t enough to be walloped by one gigantic storm in 24 hours, Mother Nature is thinking it might serve up two.

The National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for the Baltimore/ Washington D.C. area that includes Howard and Carroll counties.

According to the outlook, thunderstorms are expected to move across the area, which is also under a heat advisory, Saturday afternoon and evening—from about 3 to 9 p.m.

“Some of the storms will likely be severe… producing damaging wind gusts and possibly large hail,” according to the outlook.

The heat index could also exceed 105 degrees in the area Sunday and Monday, the Weather Service said.

This outlook comes after a damaging storm that swept the region Friday night. Emergency officials said minor damages occurred throughout Carroll County. In Howard County, more than 20 homes reported tree damage to their homes.

The storm killed at least five people in the Washington region, according to the Washington Post, including a . 

The storm also people statewide.

Howard County libraries serve as cooling centers for the area, officials said. A list of other places to stay cool in the hot weather can be found on the Howard County Government Facebook page.

Cooling centers are also open .

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