Updated Oct. 17, 2019 9:37 AM
A potent storm that swept across the East Coast on Wednesday has left over half a million customers without power on Thursday morning, as winds from the back side of the storm system continue to whip across the region.
As the storm underwent rapid strengthening, it unleashed drenching rain, hurricane-force winds and even some high-elevation snow to the northeastern United States.
The storm packed a heavy punch with travel disruptions, tree damage, coastal flooding in addition to the power outages.
The storm strengthened at a fast enough pace into Thursday to be classified as a bomb cyclone. For a storm to meet bomb cyclone criteria, the barometric pressure has to fall at least 24 millibars, or 0.71 of an inch of Mercury, in 24 hours.
On Wednesday, AccuWeather meteorologist Jesse Ferrell predicated that this storm may allow new pressure records to fall.
A satellite view of the strengthening storm bringing heavy rain and high winds to the Northeast on Wednesday night, Oct. 16, 2019. (NOAA/GOES-EAST)
Indeed, at least one weather record was broken as areas when Providence, Rhode Island, set a new monthly record reaching 976.3 mb at 3:54 a.m. Thursday. October records were also set in Boston and Concord, New Hampshire.
"NOAA lists records which are over 980 mb for stations in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts New Hampshire, and southern Maine." Ferrell said on Wednesday.
Since winds on the front side of the storm were from the east or southeast, instead of the northeast for New England, the system is not being considered as a true nor'easter.
Strong winds were downing trees in portions of eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts late Wednesday. A wind gust of 70 mph was reported in Westerly, Rhode Island, on Wednesday night. A 90 mph wind gust was reported in Provincetown, Massachusetts, early Wednesday morning.
Power outages continue to mount, with over 610,000 customers in the dark across the mid-Atlantic and New England as of 8 a.m. EDT Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us. Most of these outages are in Massachusetts.
Rain has ended in the lower mid-Atlantic but will continue to drench areas farther north and east into Thursday. Rain in New England is likely to average 1-3 inches with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 4 inches most likely in the area from northeastern New York state to Vermont and western Massachusetts.
Three people died and eight were injured following an accident involving a multi-passenger van on Wednesday afternoon in Chester County, Pennsylvania, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
1/8
(Photo from Twitter @DXFD_PIO Duxbury Fire Department Public Information Officer)
The cause of the accident remains under investigation, however, AccuWeather meteorologists say rainy weather could be to blame.
“At the time of the crash, heavy rain was falling across the area, and could have been a factor,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda said.
Heavy rain can significantly reduce visibility as well as cause hydroplaning, especially at high speeds in heavy rain.
“The heavy rain causes a layer of water to form on the roads, which can cause the tires of a vehicle to become 'disconnected' from the pavement surface and thus the vehicle loses traction, much like an icy surface,” Sojda said.
The weather in New York City on Wednesday evening postponed the scheduled ALCS game until Thursday evening when mainly dry, but blustery and cool conditions are anticipated.
Travel delays struck airports in the northeast due to weather and wind, triggering a Traffic Management Program for traffic arriving to the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York on Wednesday night.
From the standpoint of abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions, the rainfall is welcomed.
However, enough rain can fall at the local level in some urban areas to cause minor street and poor-drainage area flooding, which can disrupt ground travel.
Street flooding was reported in the Philadelphia metro area late Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, a flash flood warning was issued for portions of northern Connecticut as downpours continued to stream into the region.
Where leaves are falling or have recently fallen in wooded areas, the wet pavement can make for especially slick conditions on secondary roads. In some cases, fallen leaves can block storm drains.
RELATED:
"We believe wind will be significant in some locations from the storm," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said.
Since this storm will strengthen as it moves along, gusts may be strong enough to break tree limbs, cause sporadic power outages and knock a considerable amount of leaves off the trees in areas where leaf color is peaking or past peak.
"Wind gusts between 50 and 60 mph are likely in central and southeastern New England," Rossio said.
At New York's LaGuardia Airport, a wind gust of 55 mph was reported on Wednesday night. Boston's Logan International Airport gusted to 70 mph.
Winds that strong can lead to flight delays, flight cancellations, turbulence and travel restrictions over some of the high bridges in the region. Construction cranes may need to be secured.
The strongest winds over the Great Lakes, central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic coast are likely to occur on the back side of the storm into Thursday and will generally be blowing from the west and northwest with most gusts between 35 and 45 mph. Winds will be strong enough to cause large waves on the lakes as well as lakeshore flooding.
In New England, winds will flip around to the west and northwest from Thursday to Friday, after being from the east and southeast at midweek.
"The strong, easterly winds on the front side will lead to a period of above-normal tides and coastal flooding in eastern New England," Rossio said.
Tides may be 2-3 feet above normal during at least one high tide cycle.
The shifting winds are also likely to knock over some large or poorly-rooted trees and lead to property damage in New England.
As cold air charges in on the back side of the storm, a change to snow is likely in the higher elevations of the Adirondacks, Catskills and Green and White mountains from eastern New York state to northern New England from Thursday to Thursday night. It is possible the highest terrain picks up a few inches of snow. Snowflakes are likely to be seen over some of the ridges in the Alleghenies of western Pennsylvania, western Maryland and West Virginia.
The first snowflakes of the season were reported in Snowshoe, West Virginia, on Wednesday night.
The first flakes of the season are officially flying here on the mountain!
Watch it livebit.ly/2OT3ZiY#stoked #firstsnow #snowshoemtn #wvwx
116 people are talking about this
In terms of how the air feels, the coldest air of the season so far will rotate in following the storm.
Gusty winds are likely to cause AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures to run 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit lower than the actual temperature from Thursday to Friday.
This means that RealFeel® Temperatures may dip into the 20s and lower 30s over the central Appalachians and eastern Great Lakes region and to the 30s and 40s near the mid-Atlantic coast.
As colder air plunges into the region, the bomb cyclone's next stop will be the Canadian Maritime Provinces.
Download the free AccuWeather app to see the latest forecast for your region. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
No comments:
Post a Comment