The Northeast — including the New York City metropolitan area — is facing a potentially significant flash flood threat this week from an unusually strong storm that could drop up to a month’s worth of rain in just a few days.
The soaking system will be spawned by a pocket of energy that’s firing up severe thunderstorms in parts of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley on Monday. The primary threat is powerful wind gusts, which could knock out power and down trees, but isolated tornadoes are possible. One extremely dangerous and destructive tornado hit northeast Wisconsin Monday afternoon.
Tuesday, the storm will spin its way into the Northeast, where it will intensify and slow down dramatically. It’s expected to linger over parts of the region through at least Thursday, dumping way too much rain.
The storm’s strength when it’s over central New York on Wednesday will be more on par with a system we’d expect to see in October, November or December — not late-July. Storms are usually weaker in summer than winter because the jet stream doesn’t add as much punch to intensify them.
At the same time, the system will tap into souped-up, moisture-rich pipelines of Atlantic and Gulf air. The amount of water vapor in this air mass will reach levels well above average for even midsummer’s humid reputation.
