Tropical Storm Fay weakens after New Jersey landfall

NEW YORK — Fast-moving Tropical Storm Fay made landfall in New Jersey on Friday amid heavy, lashing rains that closed beaches and flooded shore town streets.

The storm system was weakening as it moved over New Jersey and was expected to continue doing so overnight, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its 8 p.m. advisory. The storm is expected to bring 2 to 4 inches

(5 to 10 centimeters) of rain, with the possibility of minor coastal flooding from New Jersey to Rhode Island as well as flash flooding. That’s down from earlier forecasts of about 3 to 5 inches

(8 to 13 centimeters) of rain. The storm made landfall along the coast of New Jersey about 10 miles (15 kilometers) north-northeast of Atlantic City, according to national forecasters and was around 45 miles (72 kilometers) north-northeast of that city and 50 miles (80 kilometers) south-southwest of New York City as of the latest advisory.

Several beaches in Delaware had been temporarily closed because of the storm. And police in Ocean City asked drivers to avoid southern parts of the tourist town because flooding had already made some roads impassable. Some streets in the New Jersey shore towns of Sea Isle City and Wildwood were flooded, according to social media posts. Seaside Heights, New Jersey, reported a sustained wind of 37 mph (60 kph) and New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport reported a wind gust of 45 mph (72 kph), said forecasters.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect from Great Egg Inlet, New Jersey to Watch Hill, Rhode Island. The warning area includes Long Island and the Long Island Sound in New York, forecasters said. Heavy rain was falling in New York City on Friday afternoon as the center of the storm moved northward toward upstate New York and western New England.