Downpours from Harvey to dampen part of Labor Day weekend in northeastern US

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

September 2,2017, 10:59:37AM,EDT

 

While Harvey will still wield locally drenching downpours and gusty thunderstorms, its main impact will be to curtail some Labor Day weekend plans in the northeastern United States.

Harvey is now well removed from the tropical air that helped to produce the flooding disaster in Texas and Louisiana. Much stronger steering winds in the Northeastern states will prevent Harvey from stalling like it did near the Gulf coast.
The rainstorm will run into a swath of dry, cool air in the Northeast this weekend. The effect of the dry air will be not only to slow the forward progress of the rain initially but also to reduce the total amount of rain that falls from the storm.
Rain will continue to spread over Pennsylvania and much of New Jersey. By Saturday night, rain will advance into southern and western New York state and part of southwestern New England.

Motorists can expect wet travel and delays to expand slowly northeastward. Fans heading to area ball games should wear warm clothes and have a rain poncho handy.
However, in isolated areas, tropical downpours can fall on parts of the region to cause incidents of flash and urban flooding, according to AccuWeather Chief Operating Officer Evan Myers.
Total rainfall will average 0.50 to 1.25 inches with locally higher amounts.
"Flooding downpours are most likely to occur over the Appalachians, where hilly terrain can increase threat of rapid runoff," Myers said.
People camping near small streams in the central and southern Appalachians should be extra cautious into Sunday.
Another area where isolated flooding downpours are possible is from eastern North Carolina and Virginia to Delaware and southern New Jersey, where higher humidity and warmth from the Atlantic Ocean may enhance thunderstorms.
Some of the storms in coastal areas of the mid-Atlantic can be locally gusty into Saturday evening, according to AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologist Richard Schraeger.
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"It is possible a couple of the strongest storms allow a brief tornado or waterspout to spin up," Schraeger said.
On Sunday, rain will spread over much of New England as Harvey joins up with a non-tropical storm system.

Since both storms will continue to move along, clearing will progress from southwest to northeast over the mid-Atlantic on Sunday.
The sun is likely to emerge in New York City on Sunday afternoon.
Much of the region can expect rain-free conditions on Labor Day with plenty of sunshine in store.
Temperatures will rebound to seasonable levels on the last day of the long holiday weekend, ahead of another push of much cooler air later next week.