The National Weather Service announced Friday afternoon that a tornado watch will be in effect in the Baltimore Region until midnight Saturday.

A tornado watch that was issued early afternoon for the Piedmont Triad was canceled Friday evening. Stray showers possible.

The watch, which also includes the Eastern Shore, is in effect until 12 a.m. Saturday. Isolated hail “up to ping pong size” is also possible, with scattered wind gusts up to 65 mph possible.

Severe thunderstorms are expected Friday, most likely starting after 2 p.m. in the Triangle, forecasters say. Large hail and damaging wind gusts will be the primary hazards, but a tornado or two is possible across the region that includes Wake, Durham, Orange and Chatham counties.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for Durham, Wake, Orange and surrounding counties for 8 p.m. Friday. A “watch” means conditions are favorable for the development of tornadoes in and close to the watch area.

The bulk of the rain is likely to fall Friday night, said John Feerick, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. However, before the flood watch takes effect, severe thunderstorms could pop up in the region Friday afternoon, said Patrick O’Hara, meteorologist at the Mount Holly office.

The NWS Raleigh NC released an updated tornado watch at 5:33 p.m. on Friday in effect until 8 p.m. The watch is for Alamance, Chatham, Davidson, Durham, Forsyth, Granville, Guilford, Orange, Person, Randolph and Wake counties.

A popular beach camp-out event in Cape May County was postponed Friday evening due to threatening weather, including the potential for severe thunderstorms or tornadoes, officials said. The Wildwood Police Department ordered all campers off the beach and all tents to be taken down for the Morey’s Pier Beach Jam event as the region was under a tornado watch Friday night.