NEW YORK – Say goodbye to the sunny reprieve, Northeast, as rain and thunderstorms are headed your way again. The Northeast will actually be the strike zone for a series of storms through next week.
After a sunny Wednesday, the first of three storms heads into the region Thursday.
These storms come on the heels of an early week storm that spawned tornadoes in Upstate New York on Monday and Massachusetts on Tuesday. Residents are still clearing downed tree limbs from yards. Memories of flash flooding and the dozens of water rescues of drivers trapped in their cars are still fresh.
Storms blowing through the heartland and mid-South on Wednesday make their way into the Northeast for Thursday along with an unusually strong area of low pressure. Before dawn, rain and storms cross into western New York and Pennsylvania. The wet weather will be unrelenting throughout the commute.
Washington and Philadelphia could hear the peal of thunder by lunch. New Yorkers will be doused from late afternoon through the evening drive. Rain holds off in Boston until the evening. The entire system blows off the coast by Friday morning.
Storm intensity ramps up early Thursday evening along the Interstate 95 corridor and the coast. The FOX Forecast Center identified the eastern end of Long Island, eastern Connecticut, Rhode Island, Cape Cod and areas south of Boston as a zone at risk of strong storms and severe thunderstorms with damaging winds, large hail, heavy rain and an isolated tornado.
Rains won’t amount to much, with totals of a half-inch to an inch for most. Local areas could see more than 2 inches, especially in a swath from Pittsburgh to New York.
The rain is falling on already saturated ground from a very wet summer. Flash floods are possible for nearly the entire area.
There is no rest for the weary, though. High pressure briefly brings sun Friday and most of Saturday before a cold front plows through into Sunday morning.
“High pressure briefly settles in again before frontal system moves in late Monday,” wrote the NWS on New York’s forecast discussion. “High pressure returns for mid-week.”
That high pressure settles the atmosphere and will clear skies for most to wrap up the weekend. Monday, the next chance of showers, arrives in western New York and Pennsylvania during the day, while the seaboard will enjoy more sun until evening.
So many cities across the Northeast can’t handle any more rain. Early July flooded much of Vermont as heavy rains forced rivers out of their banks and through towns, prompting evacuations. Rain fell at a rate of 1-2 inches per hour over Boston in late July. Water cascaded down the stairs of Fenway Park like a waterfall, and officials suspended the Mets-Red Sox game in late July.
Hartford, Connecticut, has seen a third more rain than normal for this time of year. That’s almost 10 inches more. Portland, Maine; Syracuse, New York; and Albany, New York, have gotten 20% more rain than normal so far this year.