Tropical Storm Fay makes landfall, weakens

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 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 of rain.

The storm made landfall along the coast of New Jersey about 10 miles north-northeast of Atlantic City, according to national forecasters, and was around 45 miles north-northeast of that city and 50 miles 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.

“We expect some pretty heavy winds, and we need people to be ready for that, and some flash flooding in certain parts of the city,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a briefing Friday morning.

The summer storm’s impact on the city was expected to be “pretty limited,” de Blasio said.

“If you were going to go out tonight, instead order in and keep helping our restaurant community,” he said.

President Donald Trump said the storm is being monitored and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was poised to help if needed.

Trump postponed his Saturday rally in New Hampshire due to the weather, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.

Fay is the earliest sixth-named storm on record, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.

None of this season’s previous five named storms strengthened into hurricanes.

Frank Franklin II / Associated Press A man tries to control his umbrella during Tropical Storm Fay on Friday in New York. Beaches closed in Delaware and rain lashed the New Jersey shore as the fast-moving storm churned north on a path expected to soak the New York City region.