A severe thunderstorm is making its way across the United States and nearly one in Americans are likely to face the brunt of it by the end of the day. On Thursday, the National Weather Service announced that a "Severe Thunderstorm Watch" is in effect this afternoon and evening.

A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect in central New Hampshire. The warning is posted for portions of Sullivan, Grafton, Belknap and Merrimack counties until 5:15 p.m. Affected communities include Laconia, New Hampton, Meredith, Ashland, Gilford and Plymouth. Potential storm impacts include 60-mph wind gusts and hail.

The Massachusetts counties included in the watch are Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester,cq according to the National Weather Service Boston website.

Severe storm threat persists through the evening in Maryland

Thousands of people are without power across Maryland after severe weather hit the state on Thursday.According to the BGE Outage map, nearly 47,000 people acros