NYC braces for a powerful storm packing heavy rain and winds

A powerful storm roaring up the US East Coast is poised to strike New York City at the peak of Monday morning’s rush hour, threatening heavy rain, widespread flooding, winds strong enough to delay air travel and to cause power outages. But the mid-December forecast doesn’t include snow.

Flood watches and warnings, along with high wind advisories, stretch from North Carolina to Maine, and hurricane-force winds may sweep across the Atlantic just off the coast, according to the National Weather Service. Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued similar alerts in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 

The storm has already dropped 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain across parts of Florida, with some areas getting as much as 8 inches, said Rich Otto, a forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center.

The coast from Maine to North Carolina may get between 2 and 4 inches of rain. Already, Florida has seen widespread flooding as the storm dropped heavy rain and pushed water on shore from the Atlantic.

“It’s a pretty strong storm system,” Otto said. “The low pressure will be over New York City around 7 a.m. tomorrow. There will be strong winds. I am sure there will be some airport delays from this system.”

At this time of year – meteorological winter started Dec. 1 and the official first day is Dec. 21 – at least some areas typically would get some heavy snow. But because temperatures are so mild, hardly a flake will fall making this an unusual storm, Otto said. It’s also unusual because such a wide area will get heavy, flooding rain. Winter has been off to a mild start across much of the US, with Central Park in Manhattan running 4.6 degrees above normal since Dec. 1. 

“We’re talking about a storm in December, it is tracking inland but usually west of the low’s track would be getting some pretty good snow,” Otto said. “We don’t have the cold air in place; it is just going to be rain and wind.”

In addition to the drenching downpours, there’s a threat of thunderstorms and straight-line winds along North Carolina’s coast Sunday and in New York City, Long Island and southern New England Monday, according to the US Storm Prediction Center. These types of systems can touch off power outages, along with shaking up air travel.

On the ground wind gusts may reach 50 to 60 miles (80 to 97 kilometers) per hour, while just above the surface at 5,000 feet they may exceed 100 mph, Otto said. “It will be interesting to see some of the wind reports from this system,” he said.