The storm’s fierce winds and enormous waves have pushed ashore an ocean surge comparable to tropical storms and hurricanes from Florida’s west coast to southern New England. In many locations, the water level rose at least 2 to 4 feet above normal, inundating low-lying roadways.
Charleston, S.C., saw its fourth-highest storm surge on record Sunday as did Tampa, with water levels running several feet above normal. Water levels also surged to about 4 feet above normal in Sandy Hook, N.J., and the Battery in New York City Monday morning and were predicted to rise substantially in southern New England at midday.
The storm has also been a prolific rainfall producer, dumping widespread totals of 2 to 4 inches from Florida to Maine and locally considerably higher amounts. Rain accumulations reached the double digits between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, prompting a dire flash flood emergency to be issued for areas around Georgetown, S.C. Doppler radar estimated that between 12 and 16 inches fell, the majority within a six-hour window. Water rescues followed as residents scrambled to higher ground. The National Weather Service warned that the situation was “catastrophic.”
Some of the thunderstorms that deluged the eastern Carolinas on Sunday were severe; one spawned a damaging tornado near Myrtle Beach. The twister touched down in Horry County, S.C., in the Socastee-Forestbrook area. Eight power poles were snapped near Highway 707 in Socastee and damaged a shopping center. The National Weather Service office in Wilmington, N.C., rated it an EF-1 on the 0-to-5 scale for intensity with 90 mph winds.
The flooding had subsided in the Carolinas by early Monday morning, but flood concerns were growing worse by the minute in New York State and the Hudson Valley. That’s where an area three times the size of Connecticut was under flash flood warnings to start the day; another zone of significant flooding was present in Maine. Widespread rain totals of 3 or 4 inches were reported, and additional rains were still coming down.
More flash-flood warnings were extended into portions of the New York City area, including Yonkers and the Bronx. The Weather Prediction Center, meanwhile, drew a level 3 out of 4 risk of flash flooding and excessive rainfall around much of New Hampshire and western Maine in their 9 a.m. forecast update.
“An additional 2-5 inches of rain (with locally higher amounts) are possible before the rain comes to an end later this afternoon,” the agency wrote. They also mentioned a 70 percent chance of some locations logging 3 inches in just six hours.
At the same time, winds were worsening in coastal New England, and should last into at least the first part of the overnight, abating south to north. Most of the region is under a wind advisory, with high wind warnings for gusts over 60 mph in southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island and southern Connecticut. Additional high-wind warnings are up for the New Hampshire seacoast and coastal Maine.
The storm has proven unusually intense for the time of year, setting record low air pressures for December in numerous locations in the Southeast; generally the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm.
The storm as of Monday morning
As of Monday morning, the center of intensifying storm was located in northern New York just southwest of Burlington, Vt. Since the low was strengthening, it was inhaling more air, boosting its strong winds. That also meant it was ingesting more moisture from the south, contributing to heavy downpours.
Rainfall will gradually ease into the evening hours as the low departs, but a strengthening jet stream will bolster strong winds. That could topple trees in the freshly-saturated soils.
A hefty slug of rain was still working through the Northeast to start the day. The back edge stretched from near Syracuse, N.Y., to Baltimore. A few are brief showers were expected for New York City, but sunshine was emerging in Washington D.C.
In southern New England, a band of downpours, as well as a few thunderstorms, was working from areas south of Long Island into the Connecticut River Valley. More downpours were lifting north into Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Flash warnings span from New York City to near New London, Conn., along the Interstate 95 corridor. Between 1 and 3 inches of rain had fallen, and another inch or so was expected.
The rains finally conclude from southwest to northeast during the afternoon or evening hours. For New York City, the last of the showers should exit around 1 p.m., give or take an hour; in Hartford, around 2 or 3 p.m., and by dusk in the Boston to Providence corridor. They may linger in New Hampshire and Maine for a while into the first half of the night, but the drenching should have wrapped up by then to the west in Vermont and New York State.
Even when the rains are over, the winds will be blowing fierce over coastal areas. Gusts of 40 to 50 mph are probable for much of Maine and New Hampshire, as well as inside of Interstate 95 in southern New England, with 60 mph gusts for the Cape, the Islands and Downeast Maine. The winds will wind down into the evening.
Ocean surge and coastal flooding
While still rising in southern New England at midday Monday, water levels reached levels rarely seen outside of tropical systems Sunday into Monday morning from Florida to southern Connecticut. That’s a testament to the strength of the storm’s winds and onshore flow. Here’s a roundup of some of the maximum surges — or rises in water above normally dry land — recorded up the East Coast, organized south to north:
- 2.9 feet in Jacksonville, Fla.
- 4 feet in Charleston, S.C.
- 2.5 feet in Fort Pulaski, Ga.
- 6.4 feet near Springmaid Pier, S.C., near Myrtle Beach
- 5.2 feet in Wilmington, N.C.
- 2.5 feet in Hatteras, N.C.
- 2.3 feet in Chesapeake Channel, Va.
- 2.8 feet in Washington D.C.
- 2.6 feet in Atlantic City
- 4.2 feet in Sandy Hook, N.J.
- 4.5 feet in The Battery, N.Y.
- 2.6 feet in Bridgeport, Conn.
In Florida, gusts reached around 50 mph in St. Petersburg and Tampa. Most of the coastal Carolinas saw gusts between 40 to 50 mph, but Mitchell Field in Hatteras gusted to 59 mph; Cape Lookout, N.C., 62 mph, and Florence, S.C., 67 mph. To the north Virginia Beach gusted to 48 mph, with widespread 40 to 60 mph gusts on the Delmarva Peninsula; Salisbury, Md., clocked a gust to 60 mph.
Into the Northeast and New England, the winds were comparably strong and could peak somewhat stronger Monday afternoon. Here’s a recap of the strongest gusts so far:
- 52 mph in Atlantic City
- 52 mph in North Beach Haven
- 52 mph in Farmingdale
- 60 mph at the Brookhaven Airport, Long Island
- 58 mph in Disbrow Park
- 54 mph at La Guardia Airport
- 53 mph at Kennedy International Airport
- 65 mph at Providence, Rhode Island
- 61 mph at Norwood, Mass.
- 59 mph at Plymouth, Mass.
- 59 mph at the Portland International Jetport in Maine
- 55 mph at Portsmouth, N.H.
- 53 mph at Boston’s Logan International Airport
- 51 mph at Chatham, Mass.
- 49 mph at Bridgeport, Conn.
- 47 mph at Hartford, Conn.
Rainfall totals have been exceptional with the ongoing storm with scores of reports of flooding from South Carolina into New England. Richmond for example tallied 2.74 inches of rain on Sunday alone — a record for the month of December. It narrowly beat the record of 2.73 inches that was set exactly a week earlier.
Numerous other locations set calendar day and even monthly rainfall records.
Here’s a roundup of selected rain totals from roughly south to north:
- 4.10 inches in Orlando
- 7.29 inches in Gainesville, Fla.
- 5.94 inches in Jacksonville
- 4.08 inches in Savannah, Ga.
- 4.02 inches in Charleston, S.C.
- 9.74 inches in Georgetown, S.C.
- 9.45 inches just northwest of Myrtle Beach, S.C.
- 3.96 inches in Wilmington, N.C.
- 3.94 inches in Raleigh, N.C.
- 3.50 inches in Virginia Beach
- 2.41 inches in Washington, D.C.
- 5.03 inches in Lewes, Del.
- 2.33 inches at La Guardia Airport in New York
- 5.20 inches in Charlotteburg, N.J. (northwest of New York City)
- 3.87 inches in White Plains, N.Y.
- 2.27 inches in Hartford, Conn.
- 4.01 inches in New Hartford, Conn.
- 3.34 inches in Greenville, Rhode Island, a suburb of Providence
- 1.31 inches in Boston
- 3.15 inches at Mt. Pleasant in the New York Adirondacks
- 1.96 inches in Concord, N.H.
- 1.63 inches in Portland, Me.
Snow on the storm’s backside
While the back of the rainfall is winding down southwest to northeast, additional wraparound moisture on the backside of the storm could swing through the interior Mid-Atlantic into Tuesday. That’s the region of the storm where temperatures will be plummeting, meaning a band of snow showers and squalls are likely.
Winter storm warnings are up for the high terrain of West Virginia, the extreme Panhandle of Maryland and south central Pennsylvania. That’s where upslope flow, or moisture being forced up the mountains and concentrated, leading to heavy snows in the Alleghenies. A general 3 to 7 inches are likely, with localized totals approaching 10 inches.
A few snow showers or flurries may sneak east in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday, possibly affecting areas like Washington D.C., Baltimore or Philadelphia. That, however, would be a low-likelihood event.
Farther north and west, it’s already snowing in portions of Ohio, western Pennsylvania and in western New York State. Moisture from the Great Lakes is helping to bolster those snows. Totals of up to 4 or 5 inches are possible.
Jason Samenow contributed to this report.