Northeast Storm to Raise Flooding Risk, Bring Wintry Travel

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

March 12,2015; 10:21PM,EDT

 

 

A storm will raise the risk of flooding from the central Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic and create slippery travel in northern New England this weekend.
A new batch of drenching rain expanding over the South will find its way into the Northeast.
The storm will bring a general 1-2 inches of rain over the central Appalachians, tapering to an inch or so near the Atlantic coast. Locally higher amounts of rain can fall.
The rain will be heavy enough to bring another surge of runoff into progressively larger streams over West Virginia and western Pennsylvania this weekend. With many streams already running high from recent rain, melting snow and ice jams, flooding is likely in unprotected low-lying areas.

Rising streams and localized ice jams are likely to progress farther east to central and eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and part of New york state and southern New England this weekend. As a result, people living along flood-prone streams during spring thaw situations should remain vigilant.
Accompanying the rain and wet roadways will be low cloud ceilings and locally dense fog. The poor visibility and runoff will create hazards on the highways and may lead to substantial delays for airlines and passengers.
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During Friday night and Saturday, motorists traveling along Interstate 80 or I-95 should anticipate areas of fog and drenching rain. Delays are possible at airports from Pittsburgh to New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
While much of the storm in the mid-Atlantic will occur as rain and fog, the system will have its cold sectors as well.
The first part of the storm will bring wet snow, a wintry mix and patches of black ice from part of southern and central New England to central and eastern upstate New York.
Parts of the Massachusetts Turnpike, the New York Thruway, I-89, I-91, I-93 and I-95 in Maine could be slippery for a time.
From northern upstate New York to northern and central Maine enough cold air will hold on for most of the storm to bring snow and/or a wintry mix with several inches possible.

Chilly air will briefly wrap around the tail of the storm on Sunday. Even colder air high above the ground will lead to showers of rain and wet snow over the central Appalachians and lower Great Lakes. Meanwhile, snow could be persistent enough on Sunday into Sunday night to bring a small accumulation from parts of eastern New York state to New England.
Boston could challenge their record snowfall for a season with this storm. However, it will likely have to attain the snow during the front and tail end with rain forecast for the middle. Thus far, Boston has received 105.7 inches of snow this winter. The record of 107.6 inches was set during the winter of 1995-96.
Sunday will be the nicer of the two weekend days in the coastal mid-Atlantic, despite spotty leftover showers.
Temperatures will rebound a bit early next week before more persistent cold air returns to the much of the Northeast at midweek.