Intensifying nor’easter pushes closer to Northeast, bringing strong wind, rain and more coastal flooding
WRDE-LD
By Meteorologists Mary Gilbert, Chris Dolce, Dakota Smith
(CNN) — An intensifying early-season nor’easter is set to slam the Northeast this weekend with a prolonged stretch of strong wind, soaking rain and coastal flooding.
Areas from Boston to the New York City metro and New Jersey will start to see its biggest punch of wind-driven rain and coastal flooding by Friday night or early Saturday. Strong wind could knock out power and down trees, especially on the immediate coast.
More than 40 million people will feel the storm’s impact through Sunday.
Here’s what to know:
- Power outages incoming: Wind picks up across the region late Friday and peak through Saturday night. Gusts could top out at 50 mph for the New York City metro area and 60 mph near Boston — strong enough to topple trees and knock down power lines.
- Month’s worth of rain: New York City could get more than 2 inches. The heaviest totals — up to 5 inches — are expected in eastern Massachusetts, including Boston. That’s more than a month’s worth of rain for the area.
- Battered shorelines: Tides are rising ahead of Saturday’s full moon, worsening coastal flooding. Areas close to the water in the New York City area could see up to 3 feet of inundation. Much of the Mid-Atlantic, from North Carolina to New Jersey, has experienced coastal flooding since Wednesday as the storm pushes ocean water into seaside communities and onto roads.
- NYC travel advisory: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a travel advisory for the city starting Friday afternoon, urging New Yorkers to pay attention to emergency alerts and warning of possible coastal flooding in parts of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and near the Battery on Manhattan’s southern tip.
The forecast
The nor’easter, named for the direction its punishing wind comes from, is strengthening as it tracks northward several hundred miles off the East Coast.
It’s expected to arrive on the Northeast’s doorstep at peak intensity on Saturday, and then wobble near the coast through Monday, while only gradually losing steam. That sluggish path will allow the storm to kick up a long-lived siege of high wind, coastal flooding and drenching rainfall.
New York City will see periods of heavy rain and wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph. Urban flooding is possible through several high tides through Sunday. The flooding could be worsened if rain is falling at the same time that water levels are rising.
Strong wind gusts between 50 to 60 mph will also blast the coast from southern New England and Long Island to New Jersey, especially from later Friday through Saturday night. That is strong enough to down trees and knock out power, especially because trees that are full of leaves are more prone to fall in high wind.
The strongest wind will likely be on the immediate coast south of Boston toward Cape Cod.
The wind will also rough up seas considerably and cause significant beach erosion and minor to moderate coastal flooding at high tide all weekend from New Jersey to southern New England, made worse by Saturday’s full moon.
Residents and businesses on New York’s Long Island told CNN affiliate WABC they are bracing for the possibility of not leaving home for a few days. Crews at Jones Beach there have also built large sand piles to protect the shoreline and help prevent flooding, WABC said.
Many locations from southeast New England to New Jersey will see 2 or more inches of rain.
Rainfall rates won’t be intense, but the longevity of it could saturate the ground and cause some flooding in urban, poor drainage areas and roads, especially where it coincides with coastal flooding at high tide.
The worst of the storm will begin to wind down in the Northeast by Sunday afternoon, but rain and breezy conditions will still persist through Monday.
Relentless wind drove days of coastal flooding in the Mid-Atlantic
Farther south, hammering wind and surf have been causing coastal flooding and beach erosion for days in the Mid-Atlantic.
North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey experienced some flooding Wednesday and Thursday in coastal areas, including near rivers and creeks. A few locations in southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina have seen major flooding.
A stretch of North Carolina’s Highway 12, the slim road connecting the Outer Banks barrier islands, remains closed at Rodanthe in Dare County after waves breached a protective dune Thursday. An estimated 500 feet of roadway is damaged, which is uncommon, state Department of Transportation spokesperson Tim Hass told CNN Friday.
Some streets in Norfolk, Virginia, were closed Wednesday due to flooding and several are expected to be impassable during high tide Thursday, City Councilman Thomas Smigiel said in a social media post. The city’s public schools and administration offices are also closed Thursday.
Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Nags Head, North Carolina, are among the communities that have closed beaches to swimming due to the storm.
In Ocean City, Maryland, organizers canceled the first day of a three-day music festival, citing weather impacts and beach erosion. “The safety of our fans, artists, crew, and community must come first,” the Oceans Calling festival said in a statement Thursday.
The daylong stretch of coastal flooding has been driven by relentless onshore wind from air getting squeezed between the forming nor’easter and high pressure in eastern Canada.
Coastal flooding and strong wind should begin to ease slowly this weekend in southeast Virginia and northeast North Carolina, but will continue farther north in New Jersey.
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CNN’s Kate S. Petersen contributed to this report.
