NEW YORK, N.Y. — A cold front looked ready to drag heavy showers and storms across New York in the early evening Friday, according to a city emergency management alert based on National Weather Service forecasts.
Forecasters expected breezes to strengthen mid-afternoon ahead of the front. A slight severe-storm risk covered the city from Friday morning into Saturday morning, with leftover drizzle early Saturday before skies dry later in the morning.
Rain totals were mostly tracked in the two- to four-tenths-of-an-inch range, with higher pockets under stronger cells. Brief heavy bursts were possible. Leaves jammed in drains could still puddle streets even without a major flood threat.
The biggest worry was thunderstorm gusts strong enough to snap branches, especially on the western side of the city as the line weakened moving east. Northwest breezes of 15 to 25 mph, with higher gusts, looked likely to hang into Saturday afternoon.
Air was forecast to turn much cooler, with afternoon highs only in the mid-50s, overnight lows near 40, and wind chills in the 30s before winds settle Sunday. Farther down the coast, a separate mid-Atlantic storm building this weekend is expected to whip beaches with another round of strong winds and sand loss after the Northeast already saw severe storms flip quickly into cold winds.
Managers told people to get inside when thunder starts, stow loose balcony gear, charge phones, and treat every downed wire as live. Call 311 for hanging limbs and 911 if a tree hits a person, car or building.
Filed under: New York NY Weather News