Coastal Storm to Continue Bringing Widespread Flooding Across Northeast United States [NWS]

Widespread flooding will continue in the Northeast part of the United States from Tuesday, December 19, as a coastal storm persists over the region, according to meteorologists from the National Weather Service (NWS). The storm follows related winter weather conditions, including heavy snow and howling winds, since the start of December 2023.

Previous US weather forecasts show that cold temperatures with flooding rain can disrupt and bring dangerous travel conditions ahead of Christmas. Last week, the weather service said that a renewed lake effect snow is in store for the Great Lakes region. Preceding weather outlook also reported the occurrence of winter storms in different parts of the country, affecting millions of Americans.

Northeast Flooding

In its short-range forecast on Tuesday, the NWS' Weather Prediction Center (WPC) at 2:25 a.m. EST (local time) reported about the continuance of the Northeast flooding. The NWS stated "widespread minor to moderate river and areal flooding" will persist in portions of the region, because of heavy rainfall from the storm.

The WPC also mentioned that heavy rain is coming to California, where a series of Pacific storms is expected to impact the West Coast throughout the week. Gusty winds have been forecasted over coastal southern California and some mountain snow. Meanwhile, another lake effect snow is expected for parts of the lower Great Lakes and upslope snow over the Central Appalachians, the US weather agency said.

The NWS forecast is valid until Thursday, December 21; during this period, further flooding is likely across the Northeast, especially in low-lying areas. Riverine flooding from overflowing inland bodies of water like rivers and streams are also expected.

Deadly Coastal Storm

At least five people have been reported killed in relation the US coastal storm, which moved upward to the East Coast from the Southeast and mid-Atlantic, all the way to the Northeast and New England regions. The deadly storm caused rivers to rise and resulted in widespread power outages.

As of Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of people remain without power, with rivers overflowing their banks across the Northeast and New England, according to reports, which mentioned that the major storm placed 58 million people under flood watches.

In addition to the storm-related deaths and power outages, the weather system also brought high winds that led to flight cancellations and school closures across the US East Coast. This comes as the weekend-long storm persisted on Monday, December 18, and unleashed 2 to 4 inches of rainfall across the East Coast.

Some sources call the Northeast storm a "winter storm," a weather phenomenon that is common during the North American winter season, which starts from December to February.

The NWS warns that a winter weather event that includes snow, ice, sleet, and wind chill impacts public safety and transportation, as well as commerce. The winter weather phenomenon generally occurs during the climatological winter season, specifically between October 15 and April 15.