Record rainfall a possibility
SYRACUSE -- On Tuesday, I started alerting everyone about the potential for localized flooding for today and tonight. On Wednesday, I reiterated that threat with this story about the impending deluge that will move across much of the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. That threat continues with the National Weather Service continuing flood watches for our entire area through tonight. A flood watch means there is the potential for flooding of streams, creeks, poor drainage urban and low-lying areas. Heavy rain is increasing through midday and will continue through this afternoon and evening before slowly tapering off overnight from west to east. A combination of a tropical plume of rain extending all the way from the Bahamas and Cuba will be drawn northward and enhanced by strong jet stream wind energy locally. This combination will create heavy rain across our area.
Think of the system that will affect us today as a “nor’easter on steroids”. Why do I use this phrase? Well, because, this system that is affecting us is a hybrid type east coast storm system with strong jet stream energy in Canada. This is a typical set up for a nor’easter. However, this system has the extra added input of strong tropical moisture straight from the Caribbean. The leftovers of tropical storm Nicole has also been sucked into this system, as well. Therefore, the enhanced moisture that is incorporated into the storm will likely mean very heavy rainfall that is excessive, even for a regular nor’easter. Urban and small stream flood advisories have alread been issued for issued for portions of central New York. Flood warnings and flash flood warnings may also be issued if the heaviest rain occurs in your areas. For the definition of each of these terms, click here. For the very latest warnings, advisories and watches, click on our severe weather tab for a breakdown of the latest. If and when areal flood warnings or river flood warnings are issues, then imminent danger from flooding would be more likely. On a side note, wet leaves in general are very slippery. Even if flooding does not occur in your local area, you should be on the alert for extra slippery conditions due to wet fallen leaves.
You can see my rainfall forecast map for Central New York as the first image on the slideshow of pictures. You can also find it here. It is likely that our area will at least receive 1.50 to 2.00” of rain. In addition, 2.00 to 3.00” of rainfall is quite likely over a good chunk of our viewing area. Imbedded within that heavier rainfall will be a swath of 3.00 to 4.00” and one or two small areas of 4.00 to 6.00” totals. These heavier amounts of rainfall in a 12 to 18 hour period has me concerned about localized flooding later today and into tonight. This type of rainfall would cause rapid river, stream and creek rises and potential flooding of flood prone low lying areas near rivers and streams. In addition, with leaves now falling off of trees, local storm drains may become clogged.
Like I mentioned yesterday, I am particularly concerned by this extra factor as normal rain runoff on streets may become disrupted for a time. If certain storm drains become clogged, localized flooding may occur anywhere within the viewing area. In addition, if your basement normally gets wet or flooded during heavy rain events, you should prepare for potential water issues today and tonight. You should stay tuned on-air and online to the latest weather updates from the CNYcentral weather team. Rainfall records will likely be set for the date (September 30th), and possibly for any day for the month of September. The rainfall record for Syracuse on September 30th is 1.53 set back in 1924. The highest amount of rainfall for any day of the month of September is 2.59” on September 24th, 2001. Both of these records are in jeopardy today.
There is a great resource of flooding terminology that is available to you that you should read over. I amended a flood safety awareness week story that is on our website right now. Click here for more details on flood safety. It explains flood terminology and gives you links regarding flooding information. In addition, there is another web story that describes the “Turn Around Don’t Drown” campaign to warn people of the hazards of walking or driving a vehicle through flood waters. If flooding does occur, please do not drive or walk through flooded streets. That article describes why you should avoid this.
This amount of rainfall will likely set records for the date (September 30th), but may also set the maximum rainfall that occurred during any day of the month. The rainfall record for Syracuse on September 30th is 1.53 set back in 1924. The highest amount of rainfall for any day of the month of September is 2.59” on September 24th, 2001. Both of these records may be broken on Thursday.
If you see clogged storm drains, or flooding Thursday or Thursday night, please alert us. E-mail us at news@cnycentral.com or weather@cnycentral.com or by sharing them at MyCNYcentral.
For more on your weather forecast, click on “Weather” and then the “Live Triple Doppler Radar” tab on our weather page. Make sure you refresh the Doppler radar to see the very latest information, as well. Furthermore, we have our new Interactive Doppler Radar on our website. You can zoom down to street level with Interactive Doppler Radar. You are in total control of where the radar can zoom in. Give it a try. In addition, you may tune to NBC Weather Plus on Time Warner Cable digital channel 133 or over the air 3.3 to get the very latest weather updates locally and nationally. Plus, click on Severe Weather Tab to see detailed county watches, warnings, and advisory information. In addition, you can “follow” along with me on Twitter by either clicking on the “follow” button on the Twitter section of our weather page www.cnycentral.com/weather or by visiting www.twitter.com/PeteWeatherBeat.
