Thursday, July 11, 2013

Heavy Rains for the Next Few Days in the East...

The upper level trough of low pressure along the east coast and the moisture from the remnants of Chantal will produce the heaviest rain from the Mid-Atlantic to the Southeast Friday and Saturday. The weather is forecast to turn drier on Sunday along the Southeast coast as the rain area decreases in size and shifts westward. The remnants of Chantal are forecast to drift northwestward across the western Bahamas tomorrow and then move inland across the Southeast coast on Saturday. There is a 30% chance that the remnants could re-energize into a tropical storm briefly before making landfall this Saturday. An air force reconnaissance plane is investigating today. The main impact from the remnants of Chantal will be the enhanced rainfall from thunderstorm downpours. A stalling front across the Southeast combined with an upper-level trough of low pressure along the eastern seaboard will produce heavy rains Friday into Saturday from southern New England to northern Florida. The heaviest rain is forecast to fall from Delaware to Georgia with locally more than 3 inches of rain expected through 8 AM Sunday. Since rivers and streams are already at high levels from last week’s heavy rain, there is the potential for flash flooding as well as urban and small stream flooding along the East Coast and the Appalachians this weekend. The jetstream pattern is unusual over the next few days with a retograding upper low and an inverted trough moving from the East Coast to the Midwest. Meanwhile more heat can be expected from the Southwest to the Northeast in the form of a heat wave by the middle of next week. The jestream retreats into southern Canada over the next two weeks and real summertime weather will be felt across the lower 48 states.
George Wright is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist for Wright Weather Consulting, LLC. George is also a meteorologist with ABC News and Cablevision News 12. Our website is WrightWeather.com.