Heavy Rain Soaks Appalachians, Northeast | WeatherBug
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Heavy Rain Soaks Appalachians, Northeast

May 7, 2017
UPDATED By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Brian Dillon and James West
Heavy rain, gusty winds, and thunderstorms will bring an end to the recent summer-like weather for the East and Northeast. Cold autumn temperatures return this weekend.

A complex storm system taking its sweet time moving across the U.S. will continue to make some progress today, finally moving out of the upper Ohio Valley and pushing across the Appalachians and the eastern Great Lakes. This system is separating unseasonably warm air along the entire East Coast with cold and dry autumn air over the Midwest and western Great Lakes. The clash between these two air masses along with plenty of Gulf of Mexico moisture streaming northward out of the central Gulf Coast is producing copious downpours throughout the upper Ohio Valley, central Appalachians, western Pennsylvania and western New York. 

Total rainfall accumulations through early Saturday could be 2 to 4 inches throughout the eastern Great Lakes and Upstate New York. This amount of rainfall could produce localized flash flooding, especially in the more urban areas around Buffalo, Rochester, and Utica, N.Y., and upstate Vermont and New Hampshire. 
Flash Flood Watches have been posted for northern West Virginia, east-central Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and central New York through this afternoon. As the system moves northeastward into Canada by Saturday, brisk winds will bring leaves down.  These leaves will likely block drains and causing slippery roadways.  If you come across water in the road, do not attempt to cross it as it is likely deeper than it appears. Remember, "Turn Around, Don't Drown!"

The cold front will pass through the Ohio Valley today and the Northeast Saturday bringing a return of autumn temperatures. Highs on Saturday will only be in the 40s and 50s.

Autumn, especially October and November, is not one of the traditional storm seasons nationally, with most of the nation’s severe storms happening in the spring and summer, with a mid-winter spike occurring in the South and Southeast. However, a bunch of storms, like the ones expected today, are still possible when a cold front interacts with unseasonably warm air. Temperatures remain well above normal, in the lower to middle 80s across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.