After a very dry winter season, it appears much needed heavy rain will be coming to portions of the drought region in the East. A low pressure system which moved east from the Great Lakes region last night will track east along the Ohio River Valley this morning before redeveloping over the Virginia Piedmont this afternoon. This low will then move through eastern Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware this evening, eventually ending up off the New Jersey coast late tonight.
This system will bring substantial snow to the northeast, with 6-12″+ possible for the higher terrain of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maine; however, the I-95 cities from Washington, DC to Boston, MA will see primarily rain from this system. Some of that rain will be heavy at times.
Overnight thunderstorm activity produced an area of 0.30-0.75″ of rain from the Mason-Dixon line north to the I-78 corridor; this antecedent rainfall primed the wet soils, setting the stage for potential flooding issues later today. It appears a wide swath of 2-3″ of rain, with some 3-4″ amounts possible, along the I-95 corridor between Baltimore, MD and New York City, NY and the Delaware River Valley. Atmospheric ingredients will come together to cook up quite the wet recipe this afternoon, with heavy rain likely setting up this area late this afternoon into this evening. This means there will be flood threats later today, including during the PM rush hour home.
Turn around, don’t drown -never drive through flood waters!
Precipitation will taper off late tonight for this heavy rainfall region, with lingering showers expected on Saturday before dry sunny conditions arrive on Sunday. Further north and east into New England, the wet and/or snowy weather will persist into early Sunday as the low pressure system there is slow to lose its influence over the region.
While flooding will be a concern from this system, it is welcome news for those suffering from a prolonged drought. According to the latest Drought Monitor Update, moderate to severe drought conditions exist over central Virginia, central Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, southeastern New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. With limited precipitation over the summer, this region needs bouts of heavy rain like today’s to replenish area reservoirs and restore water basins.
