NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- Gov. Kathy Hochul warned residents in low-lying areas of New York City and Long Island to prepare for flooding as a powerful storm is set to bring heavy rain and strong winds over the weekend.
While Hochul said she doesn’t expect widespread damage, even a slight shift in the Nor’easter’s track could worsen conditions, according to a statement late Wednesday. Raging surf will also make it dangerous for any late-season beachgoers, with waves offshore forecast to top 12 feet by Thursday.
High surf advisories, wind watches and coastal flood warnings stretch from Maine to North Carolina with the storm set to take shape just off the coast. There is a level 1 risk of excessive rains from New Jersey to Maine, including New York City on Saturday and a level 2 risk in eastern Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, the US Weather Prediction Center said.
The worst conditions in New York City will likely run from late Friday night through Saturday, with Boston seeing the worst about a day later, Peter Mullinax, a forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center said. The strong winds hitting trees that are still full of leaves will raise the risk of downed branches and power outages from the Mid-Atlantic to New England.
“Downed trees are very much a concern for this event especially for the coastal areas,” Mullinax said. “If you wanted a weekend to go sightseeing in New York City you picked the poorest weekend.”
Powerful wind gusts knocking down trees could disrupt rail travel across the Northeast, as Amtrak and some commuter lines rely on overhead power wires. Winds and rain may also slow traffic at some of the busiest US airports, which can cascade into cancellations and delays nationwide. New Jersey Transit said it was monitoring the course of the storm and will issue alerts on any updates to its schedule.
Computer models still disagree on the storm’s track, meaning New York City could get another dose of rain Sunday, said Rob Carolan of Hometown Forecast Services, which provides outlooks for Bloomberg Radio. He expects southeastern Massachusetts to get the heaviest rain with as much as 5 inches.
“We have an unbroken chain of moisture from the Caribbean to south of New England,” Carolan said. “You can see this huge ribbon of moisture rising out of the Caribbean.”
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