Seemingly relentless wet weather pattern to bring more rain, storms to Northeast
Strong winds, lightning, thunder and heavy rain from a severe thunderstorm blew through Fort Worth, Texas, overnight on April 23.
Those tired of the seemingly endless weather pattern bringing frequent rounds of soaking rain to the Northeast since the summer of 2018 should expect no end to the onslaught in the near future.
In the near term, the same storm system that brought flooding downpours and severe weather to Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday is spreading another round of steady, to at times heavy, rain and thunderstorms into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast to end the week.
“The unsettled weather pattern will mean that residents should keep rain gear handy and prepare for potential disruptions to some outdoor activities,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said.
She added that delays or postponements could spoil plans to attend baseball games on Friday.
The combination of recent rain and snowmelt has brought many rivers out of their banks across northern New England. The Connecticut River at Dalton, New Hampshire, could return to minor flood stage by the weekend after reaching a crest at 22 feet early this week.
With an additional half to 2 inches of rain expected in most locations from Virginia to Maine through Friday, ongoing flooding can be exacerbated and new flooding issues triggered.
At the very least, standing water on roadways and flooding of poor drainage and low-lying areas is expected.
Motorists with travel plans along interstates 66, 70, 80, 81, 83, 90 and 95 should allow extra time to get to their destinations and be prepared for slowdowns and delays.
Inbound and outbound flights are likely to be delayed or possibly even canceled in the major hubs from Washington, D.C., to Boston as the rain and storms roll in.
Locally severe storms to rumble near mid-Atlantic coast, I-95
In addition, the potential exists for some locally severe thunderstorms to erupt from the eastern parts of the Carolinas and Virginia to central and eastern Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania on Friday.
A small number of the storms have the potential to cause damaging wind gusts and even tornadoes.
A separate area of gusty to locally severe thunderstorms is possible over the Florida Peninsula, including the popular theme parks around Orlando and the Kennedy Space Center.
While the risk for damaging winds and tornadoes is likely to be less than the events spanning Wednesday and Thursday, the strongest storms may still knock down power lines and trigger isolated power outages. All it takes is one tornado in a populated area to put lives and property at great risk.
Because the ground is and has been very wet recently, it would only take wind gusts of 40-50 mph to topple some some poorly-rooted trees.
Anybody with outdoor plans in the East on Friday should keep a close eye on the sky, monitor the latest severe weather watches and warnings and be sure to move indoors when thunderstorms approach.
You are close enough to be struck by lightning if you can hear thunder.
AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok does not anticipate a change to the weather pattern through at least the first week of May.
"The Northeast will continue to have showery weather and some thunderstorm activity during the beginning of May," said Pastelok.
Even before May arrives, another storm system will send rain back into parts of the Northeast later this weekend after a brief break in the wet weather on Saturday.
Old Man Winter not done tormenting the region
Just enough cold air may be in place to allow wet snow to fall on parts of New York state, northern Pennsylvania and New England this weekend.
"There is the possibility of wet snow or at least wet snow mixing in with the rain during Saturday night in northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York state," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brian Wimer.
"Wet snow or a rain and wet snow mix may then shift eastward across central New York state and the high ground of central and northeastern Pennsylvania on Sunday," Wimer said.
Wet snow may pay a visit to parts of western New England during Sunday evening.
If the snow were to come down hard, there could even be a couple of inches of accumulation over the higher terrain on non-paved areas.
Download the free AccuWeather app for more details on when rain and thunderstorms will impact your community. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
