New York City Faces Risk of Flooding From Multi-Day Downpours

(Bloomberg) — New York City will be awash in heavy rain over at least the next two days from a weather pattern that threatens to snarl traffic and unleash flooding across the city and region.

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As much as 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of rain is forecast to fall over a wide area from eastern Pennsylvania into New York, with some areas perhaps getting as much as 5 inches, said Bob Oravec, a senior branch forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center. A travel advisory has been issued across the city through Wednesday, the New York City Emergency Management Department said.

The rain is developing along a boundary between air masses ahead of Tropical Storm Debby, which is meandering through Georgia and South Carolina, and likely would have come even without the Atlantic storm, Oravec said.

“It looks pretty wet for a whole 24-hour period before any moisture from Debby arrives,” Oravec said. “Any time it falls across New York City, or any urban area, you have to worry about the potential for flash flooding.”

Officials warned of travel delays as roads flood, while thunderstorms could pummel the region with damaging winds. In recent years, the New York area has suffered damaging flooding from heavy rain events, most notably when the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept across the city in 2021, killing more than 40 people.

Flood watches have been posted for New York, Long Island, southern Connecticut, parts of Delaware, most of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, the National Weather Service said.

After the rain drifts away late Wednesday, there is a question of what comes next, Oravec said.

Debby is forecast to start heading north after hammering the Southeast. Although its exact path is uncertain, it could take a wide swing out through western New York and northern New England or come closer to the big cities along the coastline through Saturday and Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said. The exact track the storm takes will determine whether New York City will get another round of heavy rain to close out the week.

–With assistance from Laura Nahmias and Cedric Sam.

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