Another powerful storm system hit the Northeast, causing coastal flooding and wind damage that caused nearly 1 million power outages from New England to mid-Atlantic states.
The storm also disrupted travel in the central United States after blizzard conditions swept across the Plains and spawned damaging thunderstorms and tornadoes that devastated the Southeast.
It is currently bringing pouring rain and strong winds to much of the Northeast, causing snow to accumulate inland across the region, eventually turning to rain and melting all the snow.
“I am very concerned about this matter,” Niziol said. “The combination of very strong winds and a very heavy plume of moisture rising along the east coast will cause severe power outage problems.”
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu announced that Granite State power companies had brought in additional resources ahead of the storm.
Strong wind warnings and wind advisories had been issued for most of the area by Wednesday.
Hurricane-force winds (more than 114 mph) were experienced along the coast. A hurricane warning has also been issued off the coast of lower eastern Maine, where offshore wind gusts could reach 130 mph.
“Wednesday morning, wind gusts in excess of 60 mph were possible, especially in coastal areas from the mid-Atlantic to lower eastern Maine,” Niziol said. “I am therefore very concerned about this period and the potentially large impact of widespread power outages for the period from Tuesday to Wednesday.”
Dangerous flooding threatens the Northeast, including Washington, Philadelphia and New York City suburbs
Rain is expected to continue spreading across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast into Wednesday morning, at times intensifying rapidly, with NOAA's Weather Prediction Center warning that parts of the region (shaded in yellow on the map below) are at risk of flooding. has been announced as 3 out of 4. .
Level 3 risk extends from parts of Virginia and Maryland to eastern Pennsylvania, central and northern New Jersey, the lower and central Hudson Valley of New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and southern Massachusetts. .
The risk covers more than 32 million people and includes the northern and western suburbs of Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for much of the Northeast due to the risk of heavy rain leading to flash flooding.
These flood watches extend from southern Maine to Georgia.
How much rain is expected?
Moisture flowing in from the Atlantic Ocean could increase the threat of heavy rain across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast into Tuesday into Tuesday night. For most areas, the heaviest rain will fall Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, with rain moving from west to east on Wednesday.
Widespread rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches are expected across the region before the rain pushes onto the East Coast. This includes Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston.
Northern New Jersey, the lower Hudson Valley of New York state, and parts of southern New England could experience locally higher amounts of 3 to 5 inches or more.
By evening, Doppler radar estimated that 3 to 4 inches of rain had already fallen in the area around Rehoboth, Virginia, with an additional inch possible.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency until Wednesday.
“Heavy rain of 1 to 4 inches, high winds, and the potential for inland and coastal flooding are expected,” Murphy said in a statement.. “This storm will compound the effects of the severe weather we experienced in December and last weekend, with another storm possible Friday night.”
The heavy rain will fall on top of fresh snow across the interior Northeast and parts of New England after a nor'easter dumped several inches of snow across the region over the weekend. The melting snow will increase flooding concerns this week.
If the rain stops on Wednesday, the threat of flooding will end. Instead, the threat will shift from flash flooding to river flooding.
Dozens of rivers, streams and streams are expected to reach flood stage, and multiple rivers could reach moderate to possibly major flooding.
While every storm is different, this river flooding threat situation is similar to the situation that caused devastating river flooding across the Northeast after the deadly East Coast storm Dec. 18-19. similar.
Coastal flooding is also a concern in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic
Along the Atlantic coastline, strong onshore winds will cause widespread coastal flooding from North Carolina to Maine during high tide.
The National Weather Service has issued a coastal flood warning, with the worst of the coastal flooding predicted to occur in and around the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay.
