Triple threat of rain, ice and flooding in store next for eastern US
By
Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Aug 7, 2020 2:20 PM EDT
A warmup is expected in the eastern United States into the weekend, but the trade-off will be that rain soaks much of the region and can lead to urban-style flooding problems.
As rain expanded northward Thursday night, it ran into a shallow wedge of colder air still lingering near the surface from western North Carolina to western Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania.
Heavy rain will raise the risk of urban flooding from eastern Georgia to North Carolina and southeastern Virginia into Friday evening. Motorists should expect excess water on the roads with travel difficulty. Some small streams in the region can spill out of their banks.
Areas of heavy rain and ice may not be the only threats across the Southeast on Friday. As the low pressure area sweeps through the region, showers and thunderstorms can develop from northern Georgia into central Florida.
The storm will continue to track northward on Friday night, and rain will push into New England.
Some of these storms can become locally strong to severe into Friday night, producing occasional strong wind gusts and perhaps an isolated tornado.
Once again, freezing rain can arrive in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania as well as the higher elevations of New England. The coverage of icy conditions along this section of the Appalachians is expected to be more localized.
"Because the air aloft will be constantly warming during the storm, the duration of ice is likely to be much shorter across Pennsylvania as opposed to North Carolina," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Eric Leister said.
The heaviest rain is expected to move over eastern North Carolina, eastern Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, southeastern New York and southern New England with urban flooding during Friday night.
By early Saturday, heavy rain will drench Long Island, New York and eastern New England, where, once again, incidents of urban flooding are likely.
Soaking rain is likely for at least the first part of the Amy-Navy football game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia during Saturday afternoon. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 50s F with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures no better than the 40s.
It is possible the heavy rain moves away for the second half of the game.
The ice threat is also expected to be short-lived in New England as colder air moves north and rain spreads over the region on Saturday.
The heaviest rain will be largely confined to the Northeast on Saturday as showers persist in the Southeast. In areas along the Atlantic coast, rainfall totals can climb to around 1-3 inches with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 4 inches possible in areas that get prolonged periods of rain. Urban and street flooding will be most likely in these locations.
Locally dense fog is another concern with the rainstorm.
"As the milder, moist air spreads over cold ground, the potential for fog will increase and could be thick and widespread enough as to slow travel at times," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
Above normal-tides can accompany the storm along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts.
"Since the storm will track just inland of the coast, flooding issues related to tides and storm surge are likely to be minor with this storm, but perhaps most common over eastern New England, where the storm has had a chance to strengthen significantly and produce stiff onshore winds," Sosnowski said.
Into the second half of the weekend, the storm will move north into eastern Atlantic Canada, and colder air will begin to filter back into the region on the backside of the storm.
"As the colder air comes in, accumulating snow is likely over the western slopes of the central Appalachians, while lake-effect develops for a brief time late Saturday and Saturday night," Sosnowski added.
Next week may start out chilly and dry in the Northeast, but the parade of storms will bring a potent storm system into the region by the middle of the week.
Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Winter Weather
Triple threat of rain, ice and flooding in store next for eastern US
By Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Aug 7, 2020 2:20 PM EDT
A warmup is expected in the eastern United States into the weekend, but the trade-off will be that rain soaks much of the region and can lead to urban-style flooding problems.
As rain expanded northward Thursday night, it ran into a shallow wedge of colder air still lingering near the surface from western North Carolina to western Virginia and south-central Pennsylvania.
Heavy rain will raise the risk of urban flooding from eastern Georgia to North Carolina and southeastern Virginia into Friday evening. Motorists should expect excess water on the roads with travel difficulty. Some small streams in the region can spill out of their banks.
Areas of heavy rain and ice may not be the only threats across the Southeast on Friday. As the low pressure area sweeps through the region, showers and thunderstorms can develop from northern Georgia into central Florida.
The storm will continue to track northward on Friday night, and rain will push into New England.
Some of these storms can become locally strong to severe into Friday night, producing occasional strong wind gusts and perhaps an isolated tornado.
Once again, freezing rain can arrive in the mountains of northern Pennsylvania as well as the higher elevations of New England. The coverage of icy conditions along this section of the Appalachians is expected to be more localized.
"Because the air aloft will be constantly warming during the storm, the duration of ice is likely to be much shorter across Pennsylvania as opposed to North Carolina," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Eric Leister said.
Related:
The heaviest rain is expected to move over eastern North Carolina, eastern Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, southeastern New York and southern New England with urban flooding during Friday night.
By early Saturday, heavy rain will drench Long Island, New York and eastern New England, where, once again, incidents of urban flooding are likely.
Soaking rain is likely for at least the first part of the Amy-Navy football game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia during Saturday afternoon. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 50s F with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures no better than the 40s.
It is possible the heavy rain moves away for the second half of the game.
The ice threat is also expected to be short-lived in New England as colder air moves north and rain spreads over the region on Saturday.
The heaviest rain will be largely confined to the Northeast on Saturday as showers persist in the Southeast. In areas along the Atlantic coast, rainfall totals can climb to around 1-3 inches with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 4 inches possible in areas that get prolonged periods of rain. Urban and street flooding will be most likely in these locations.
Locally dense fog is another concern with the rainstorm.
"As the milder, moist air spreads over cold ground, the potential for fog will increase and could be thick and widespread enough as to slow travel at times," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
Above normal-tides can accompany the storm along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts.
"Since the storm will track just inland of the coast, flooding issues related to tides and storm surge are likely to be minor with this storm, but perhaps most common over eastern New England, where the storm has had a chance to strengthen significantly and produce stiff onshore winds," Sosnowski said.
Into the second half of the weekend, the storm will move north into eastern Atlantic Canada, and colder air will begin to filter back into the region on the backside of the storm.
"As the colder air comes in, accumulating snow is likely over the western slopes of the central Appalachians, while lake-effect develops for a brief time late Saturday and Saturday night," Sosnowski added.
Next week may start out chilly and dry in the Northeast, but the parade of storms will bring a potent storm system into the region by the middle of the week.
Download the free AccuWeather app to check the forecast in your area. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo