Millions of people across the East Coast and Ohio Valley could see more strong thunderstorms Friday through Sunday, bringing pockets of torrential rain and a risk of flash flooding after storms swamped parts of the Northeast earlier this week.
This comes as abundant moisture continues to surge northward due to a high-pressure system positioned just off the east.
This setup is funneling Atlantic moisture inland ahead of an approaching cold front, allowing showers and thunderstorms to develop across the eastern US and keeping conditions unsettled through the weekend.
Beginning Friday afternoon, a cold front will stretch from the Great Lakes into the central Plains. This will increase instability and spark showers and thunderstorms from the Southeast into the Northeast.
Rainfall rates could reach 2.5 inches per hour during the strongest storms. With many areas already saturated from recent rainfall, flash flooding will once again become a concern.
A Level 1 out of 4 flash flood risk is in place across much of the Northeast, Ohio Valley and Southeast through Saturday. This includes major cities such as New York City, Washington, DC, Charlotte, and Atlanta.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has also issued a Level 2 out of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms beginning Friday afternoon across a corridor from the tip of southwestern Connecticut and New York’s Lower Hudson Valley through eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey to the Delmarva.
This includes the I-95 corridor from New York City to Washington, DC. Damaging wind gusts are expected to be the main threat.
However, not everyone along the East Coast will experience heavy rain. Areas that miss out on the storms will instead contend with hot and humid conditions.
Heat alerts have been issued from Philadelphia to Boston, where heat index values could climb above 100 degrees in some locations. Those alerts could be extended into Saturday.
Residents across parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic should expect widespread rainfall totals of 0.5 to one inch, with localized amounts of one to two inches or more where thunderstorms repeatedly track over the same locations through Saturday and Sunday.
Additional heavy rainfall could impact communities that experienced significant flash flooding last month.
For example, Bridgeport, CT, has recorded more than seven inches above average rainfall this year, while Albany, NY, is running more than five inches above average, leaving both areas more vulnerable to additional flooding.
Read the full article here
