A pesky coastal low moving north and a cold front approaching from the west will make for a wet Saturday across much of the Northeast, while severe weather is possible on the southern end of the front.
The low-pressure system is the same one that caused significant flooding in the Wilmington, North Carolina, area on Friday, while the front is the same one that kicked off hail-producing thunderstorms Friday evening across Texas.
Rain arrived in the Northeast U.S. early Saturday morning courtesy of a low-pressure system that has been hugging the East Coast during the latter half of the week.
Forecast models show the low moving ashore near New York City on Saturday afternoon, with heavy rain spreading farther inland across Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire into the evening. The National Weather Service office in NYC issued a Flood Watch until midnight for the area over concerns of urban flooding as rainfall rates increase through the day.
Windy weather is likely nearer the coast Saturday evening, with winds gusting to as high as 30 mph in NYC and up to 60 mph in Portland, Maine.
“We have that low that’s going to continue to drive up the coastline,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Kiyana Lewis. “That’s what’s going to be producing the heavy rain, but along with that the rough surf and the gusty winds.”
By Saturday night, a cold front moving in from the west will meet up with the low and enhance rainfall across interior parts of the Northeast and New England. Heavy rain and gusty winds will likely cover much of Maine before everything moves out to sea by late Sunday morning.
On the southern end of the cold front, heavy rain and some severe storms are possible across the South. The highest risk for both of these is across the Deep South – Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
Rain and a few thunderstorms will linger along the Southeast coast and Florida through Sunday.