Northeast US bracing for rounds of downpours, potential flooding and travel disruptions
Heavy rain and thunderstorms could elevate the flood risk in parts of the Northeast this week, and Tropical Storm Debby could add to flooding problems later on.
A family in Des Moines, Iowa, experienced a frightening moment when they were caught in a violent storm that produced strong winds and hurled debris through the air on July 31.
After storms at the start of the weekend brought locally heavy rain and areas of flooding across the Northeast, a second storm is now affecting part of the region with additional rainfall, AccuWeather meteorologists say. There's also the chance that rain from Debby, a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico, will eventually reach the region by late week.
A slow-moving storm is bringing rain and thunderstorms to the central Appalachians, mid-Atlantic and New England through Sunday evening. Some of the rain will be intense and repeat enough to trigger flash flooding in urban areas and along some small streams.
Severe thunderstorms erupted on Saturday afternoon and evening with more than 80 incidents of strong winds or damaging wind gusts. Locally heavy rain, up to 3 inches in some areas, triggered urban and low-lying area flash flooding.
Rainfall totals from Friday to Sunday of 0.75 of an inch to 1.50 inches will be common over the Northeast, but locally higher amounts of 4 inches may occur. Much of that rain may fall in an hour or two.
Motorists should be prepared for delays, as heavy rain may cause ponding on some major highways. Underpasses around the exits are typically the most prone to significant flooding.
On Monday, this downpour zone may break up or move off the coast, but that may not be the last of the downpours in the forecast this week.
AccuWeather meteorologists are tracking another slow-moving storm system that will move from the Midwest to the Northeast from Tuesday to Thursday. This system could lead to locally heavy rain and the potential for flash flooding.
The combined rainfall of both storms through the middle of next week will range from 1.50 to 3 inches in the Northeast, with local amounts of 4-6 inches.
Meanwhile, AccuWeather meteorologists will be monitoring the track and intensity of Debby, which formed in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Saturday.
Debby is forecast to become a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico prior to landfall in Florida on Monday, but may stall along the Carolina coast much of next week. Feet of rain and major flooding would unfold in this scenario for part of the Southeast states.
As southerly steering breezes pick up later this week, Debby or some of Debby's tropical moisture may be drawn north into the mid-Atlantic, central Appalachians and New England. Should this occur, enough rain to at least lead to travel disruptions is likely. However, in the case that Debby moves north as a tropical storm or rainstorm, local to widespread flooding problems could occur.
Should Debby move back out over the Atlantic and encounter the warm waters of the Gulf Stream next weekend, tropical storm or hurricane conditions may develop from Virginia to southern New England.
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