NYC Area Forecast: Another Rainy Friday

Briefing: Rain expected this morning, with periods of heavy rain through the early afternoon. Localized flooding possible.

If you’re thinking it has rained on Friday a lot recently, you are thinking correctly. It has rained on the past three Fridays, actually, and we’re gunning for four today. A low pressure system moving into the Great Lakes is bringing warm and and plenty of moisture with it, and the result will periods of showers throughout the morning today. These are expected to continue for the majority of the morning hours.

The heaviest rain is likely to fall during the late morning and early afternoon hours throughout Northern New Jersey, New York City and surrounding areas. Forecast model guidance suggests the maximum area of lift (helping to produce heavier precipitation) and juxtaposition with the most impressive moisture occurs during that time.

This supports a period of heavy rain and localized flooding from around 11am through 2pm – and the National Weather Service has issued Flash Flood Watches in response. The ground remains saturated after several weeks of well above normal precipitation, so flooding will come easily. This will be especially true in low lying or poor drainage areas.

Simulated Radar at 1:00pm. That’s a lot of rain.Dece

Showers may continue through the mid-afternoon hours before conditions start to improve, as a frontal boundary finally sneaks east of the area and into the Western Atlantic. Improving and cooler conditions are then expected to dominate the weather through the weekend – a bit of good news in a string of unsettled weather conditions!

We’ll have the details on the weekend, and a very active pattern ahead, in our afternoon update. Enjoy your Friday morning!