Coastal Storm Could Bring Wind and Rain to the East Coast

After several weeks of mainly dry weather from the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast, many areas are experiencing abnormally dry to drought conditions, with some areas even seeing an extreme drought. A developing low-pressure system could bring some relief to areas.

Dry weather over the last several weeks has caused most of the Eastern U.S. to become dry, with some areas even experiencing extreme drought conditions. Image provided by the National Drought Mitigation Center.

A system is developing off the coast of the Southeastern United States and is beginning to move north. At the same time, another smaller system is moving out of southern Canada and through the Great Lakes. By the end of the weekend, these two systems will combine near the Mid-Atlantic and progress toward New England.

A small low-pressure system will combine with a larger system in the Atlantic, then strengthen, bringing gusty winds and heavy rain from the Delmarva Peninsula to New England. Loop provided by Pivotal Weather. (Click for loop)

As this system strengthens, it will bring the potential for strong and gusty winds from the Delmarva Peninsula to the southern coast of New England through the beginning of the week. This region still has most of its leaves on the trees, so these gusty winds could bring down the heavy trees, resulting in more widespread power outages.

A coastal storm is expected to bring strong winds to coastal areas in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Loop provided by WeatherBell.

This system is also expected to bring heavy rain across the region. While much of the region is experiencing a drought and desperately needs rain, some areas, especially those closer to the coast, are at a higher risk of flooding. The greatest potential for flooding will be between Sunday afternoon and Monday night, with coastal flood watches and advisories already in effect spanning southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic. In combination with the highest rainfall totals near the coast, tides are still running higher than usual from the astronomical high tides that occurred earlier this week. Strong winds will also contribute to the formation of large waves offshore, creating a long fetch. The persistent east and northeast flow will allow these large waves in the long fetch area to move onshore, posing a greater threat to flooding in coastal areas, especially from Cape Cod to the northern Mid-Atlantic through Monday evening.

Areas closer to the coast from Massachusetts to Delaware are expected to receive the heaviest rainfall from this system, leading to the potential for flooding. Image provided by Weather Models.

Impacts will begin to diminish Monday night as the system starts to pull away from the region before high pressure builds in behind over the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, allowing for drier weather through at least the middle of the week.