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By Giulia Carbonaro and Hollie Silverman
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Millions of people in the Northeast, including New York City and Boston, are facing “dangerous coastal flooding and beach conditions, strong winds and heavy rainfall” as a nor’easter hits the region this weekend, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned.
The storm has already claimed the life of at least one person, a 56-year-old man in Brooklyn who died when a tree fell on him on Saturday. The nor'easter has also left more than 150,000 households in the Northeast without power, according to PowerOutage.us. Those outages span across New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Delaware.
Several events have been cancelled, including the Global Citizens Festival scheduled for Saturday in New York City’s Central Park and Ed Sheeran’s concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. On Sunday morning, over 400 flights were canceled while more than 2,800 were delayed, with Boston's Logan Airport accounting for 137 of those cancellations, according to FlightAware. Saturday saw more than 450 flights canceled and 3,000 delayed.
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Forecasters said weather conditions would reach their peak from Saturday into early Sunday, though they warned that strong winds, rough surf and coastal flooding would linger into Monday, with rain showers continuing on-and-off.
"There is a Slight Risk (level 2/4) of excessive rainfall over parts of Southern New England on Sunday and the Upper Midwest on Monday," a forecast from the NWS said Sunday. "An upper-level low along the Mid-Atlantic Coast will move northeastward into the Gulf of Maine by Tuesday."
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Where Is the Worst of the Nor’easter Impact Expected?
The nor’easter has brought dangerous wind gusts and coastal flooding to the entire Northeast, but the New York City metropolitan area and New Jersey are expected to take the brunt of the storm, according to forecasters.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has warned that the strongest wind gusts and widespread coastal flooding will most likely occur near the waterfront and shorelines of New Jersey, New York City and Long Island, while the worst flooding is expected with the daytime high tide cycles Saturday and Sunday.
Flooding will also extend inland from the waterfront along tidal rivers and bays.
By Friday afternoon, New York and New Jersey had declared a state of emergency. In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul placed New York City and Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties under a state of emergency, while a Coastal Flood Warning was issued for Long Island, New York City and the lower Mid-Hudson.
The worst flooding, the governor’s office stated, is expected along the south shore of Long Island, as well as parts of lower New York Harbor and coastal areas of the Bronx, Westchester, and northern Nassau County along the Long Island Sound.
In New Jersey, Governor Mikie Sherrill declared a state of emergency for eight counties expected to face the most severe impacts from the nor’easter, including Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Salem.
Showers and thunderstorms, including some severe ones, may produce localized heavy rain from the Southern Plains to the upper-Mississippi Valley, NWS forecasters said.
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How Long Will it Last?
The latest NWS update warns that high tide cycles through Sunday afternoon will see potential for moderate to locally major coastal flooding for most of the local coastline, with the worst likely to hit the southern and eastern bays of Long Island. Some two to four inches of additional rainfall is expected across New York City, Long Island, and southern Connecticut, while 1.5 to 3 inches are expected anywhere else.
Widespread minor urban, poor drainage, and small stream flooding, with isolated instances of flash flooding are likely through Sunday night, forecasters said.
The nor’easter is expected to gradually weaken on Sunday, though its impacts will continue into Monday, including on-and-off rain showers, gusty winds and some coastal flooding.
"Heavy rain may also lead to isolated inland flooding from Northern New Jersey into Southern New England through Monday," according to a Sunday forecast from the NWS.
The Weather Prediction Center (WPC) issued a slight risk for "excessive rainfall over parts of Southern New England on Sunday into Monday morning."
"The associated heavy rain will create mainly localized flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, small streams, and narrow canyons/gullies the most vulnerable. The heavy rain associated with the storm will slowly wane to a few showers over parts of Maine by Tuesday morning," the NWS forecast said.
“Storm won’t leave region until Monday night,” John Davitt, chief meteorologist for Spectrum News NY1, wrote on X, referring to New York City, adding that “waves of rain are coming.”
In the Big Apple, strong to damaging winds will peak on Saturday night into Sunday morning, according to the city’s NWS branch.
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What to Do If You Are in the Nor’easter Path
Both Sherrill and Hochul have urged residents to take the weather warning seriously and be cautious the next couple of days.
“I urge all New Jerseyans to take this storm seriously, stay safe, and be prepared. Please charge your phones, secure loose items outside, stock up on food and water, and stay off the roads if possible,” Sherrill said in a statement. “If you need to travel, please plan ahead and stay up to date on alerts, as conditions can change quickly, and never drive through flooded roads.”
“Take this storm seriously. Stay alert, and avoid unnecessary travel,” Hochul said.
NOAA recommends residents of areas affected by the storm make sure they have food, water, medications and other basic necessities for themselves, their family and their pets “to sufficiently ride out the storm and its aftermath.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly, Cristina Diciu and Anthony Murray.
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