Nor’easter brings flooding rains and high winds
A storm offshore of the Mid-Atlantic explosively intensified Monday night, and it is buffeting the Northeast with strong winds and flooding rains.
Flash flood watches are up from New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania into most of southern New England. Up to five inches of rain are possible, falling on soils that are largely saturated following an exceptionally wet summer. By Tuesday afternoon, parts of New Jersey had already seen more than 4
inches, with rainfall rates topping an inch per hour.
A state of emergency was declared in New Jersey and New York on Monday due to the anticipated storm hazards. New York City issued a travel advisory through Wednesday morning, advising commuters to allow extra travel time and use mass transit.
“We know how quickly these storms can escalate, so everyone, especially those living in basement apartments, should plan accordingly,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted Monday.
Wind advisories also stretch from the nation’s capital to the coastline of Maine, with a high-wind warning up for the shorelines of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where gusts could top 70 mph. The nor’easter is the first of two sprawling storm systems that will bring inclement weather to the East Coast this week. Its rate of intensification is expected to qualify it as a “bomb cyclone,” or a storm that strengthens with unusual haste.
The storm is the final act of a destructive ensemble that brought tornadoes to the Ozarks and Midwest on Sunday and a line of strong thunderstorms to parts of the Mid-Atlantic overnight Monday, which unloaded one to three inches of rain from Washington to Philadelphia. By Tuesday, rain and downpours were exiting offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula, spiraling into a new developing low-pressure center taking shape off the East Coast.
As of noon Eastern time on Tuesday, the nor’easter
was centered just east of New Jersey. Radar showed heavy rain, focused along a stationary front, drenching the zone from around Hartford into the Poconos and Catskills. Flash flood warnings stretched from east of Scranton to west of Albany, where 2 to 3 inches of rain had fallen and another 1 to 2 inches anticipated. The rain had generally lifted north of New York City.
Rain could persist in eastern New England and coastal Maine well into Wednesday before the storm, making a bit of a loop, finally pulls away.
The Northeast is particularly vulnerable to additional heavy rainfall thanks to a waterlogged summer that featured top-tier rain events. The remnants of Hurricanes Ida, Henri and Elsa contributed to nearly 30 inches of rain falling in Boston since June 1, tying for the second-wettest summer on record at Logan International Airport.
New York City saw more than two feet of rain over the summer, followed by a flash flood disaster on Sept. 1, when 7 inches of rain came down in only a few hours’ time. Soil moisture is still running high, meaning parts of the region can’t handle much more water. Relatively dry weather in recent weeks, however, may lower the threat of more serious flooding
Rainfall rates from this nor’easter will be considerably lower than when Henri and Ida hit the region and more than three inches fell in an hour.
Peak rainfall rates from this event should be about half that.