Coastal storm to soak New England early week, bringing risk of renewed flooding
A storm tracking along the mid-Atlantic and New England coast at the start of the week will bring additional rainfall to the region, posing a concern for renewed flooding for areas impacted by Lee.
Soaking rain will renew flooding dangers in parts of soggy New England early this week.
AccuWeather meteorologists say that a storm pushing northeastward across the Atlantic coast will bring the next round of rain to areas of New England that are still reeling from the impacts of Lee. This storm is on track to move up the coast through Tuesday, potentially spreading anywhere between 1-2 inches of rain to parts of Connecticut, Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts, southeastern Vermont and southeastern Maine.
Locations across coastal and eastern Maine will be sensitive to any additional rainfall after observing nearly up to 6 inches from Friday night to early Monday. The latest indications show that it will only take upwards of 1 inch of rain over the course of a few hours in some locations of central and eastern Maine to produce localized flash flooding.
In addition to the coastal rain, spots across the mid-Atlantic region and Northeast are likely to observe a slight dip in temperatures.
Parts of New England will be sensitive to additional rainfall
Forecasters say that recent rainfall across nearby parts of southern New England over the previous week may heighten concerns for high water and transportation delays.
"Not only is eastern Maine vulnerable to flooding early this week, but areas in Connecticut, Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts will also be at risk for localized flooding," explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva.
Between the 8th and the 13th of September, locations such as Hartford, Connecticut, and Pawtucket, Rhode Island, just a few miles to the northeast of Providence, recorded roughly 150-165% of their typical monthly rainfall. To put that into perspective, both locations totaled over 6 inches of rain over that time span, while typical September rainfall amounts crest around 3 to 4 inches.
Some locations in central and eastern Massachusetts observed even higher rainfall amounts last week, including Leominster, a city nearly 20 miles north of Worcester, which observed around 11 inches of rain in less than eight hours. The torrential rainfall led to evacuations and school closures across the region, including those residing near Barrett Park Pond Dam, where it was reported that wall damage took place during the flooding event.
Although most areas of southern New England have been on the road to recovery from the periods of heavy rain that fell last week, additional rainfall early this week could cross the threshold for localized flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas, streams and smaller rivers.
Impacts to the rest of the Northeast
As the coastal feature surges northward along the Eastern Seaboard early this week, it will join up with the moisture from a weak zone of low pressure moving across the interior Northeast.
As AccuWeather accurately predicted, the Monday morning commute was slowed up and down the I-95 corridor between Boston and Philadelphia as rain progressed across the region.
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski warned travelers that there could even be some heavier pockets of rain which could reduce visibility and cause some standing water on streets and sidewalks.
Wet conditions will continue to gradually shift northeastward throughout the day on Monday as the center of the storm moves along coastal New England. Some locations across Delaware, Maryland and far eastern Pennsylvania have begun to dry out by midmorning.
"Though the rain could linger for the evening commute for cities such as Boston, farther south around Philly, conditions will improve as the rain exits the area," mentioned Pydynowski.
High pressure is expected to move in behind this coastal Northeast storm and bring a return of calm, dry and mostly sunny conditions to the region.
Temperatures are expected to rebound by a few degrees as the week continues as the pattern ushers in a warmer air mass. Many locations, such as Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, are likely to climb a few degrees above typical mid-September values through at least Thursday, with mainly dry weather expected.
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