Heavy rain from a powerful winter storm moving across the country could lead to some coastal flooding concerns along much of the Northeast and New England coasts Friday, especially where snowmelt adds to the water falling from the sky.
The National Weather Service in New York said widespread moderate to locally major coastal flooding is ongoing Friday morning. Areas on the south shore of Long Island are nearing their peak levels. As high tide approaches, areas on the Long Island Sound will rise for the next few hours.
Forecasters are warning of nearly 3 feet of storm-surge inundation in some places, like Portland, Maine, due to the powerful winds produced by the storm that will likely become a bomb cyclone. According to the NWS, this would be the third-highest water level on record in Portland, behind a February 1978 blizzard and a nor’easter one month prior.
Most locations covered by coastal flood alerts will see up to 2 feet of flooding.
Coastal Flood Warnings and Advisories are impacting those along the Eastern Seaboard and extending south into places like the Delmarva Peninsula.
“Places like Long Island, as well as the Gold Coast of Connecticut, all will see likely some coastal flooding at this point,” FOX Weather meteorologist Jason Frazer said. “Part of the reason why is we’re going to have that onshore flow there.”
The strong onshore winds at the coast will lead to a flood event along south-facing coasts, especially with the Friday morning high tide.
The FOX Forecast Center said wind-driven rain is expected across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Friday as damaging winds blast the region with widespread 50-plus-mph gusts. Some gusts between 60 and 70 mph cannot be ruled out. In addition, some power outages are likely for parts of the Northeast, and more widespread outages are possible in interior portions of the region. Hundreds of thousands were already without power from Texas to the East Coast on Friday morning.
Even after the rain ends, the dangers will not end. Rapidly dropping temperatures will quickly freeze up any water that remains on the roads, leading to treacherous driving conditions from Friday night into at least Saturday.