Deadly Tropical Storm Debby continues to slowly make its way across the Southeast and parts of the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday, but heavy rain from the system is expected to push into the Northeast where it will put tens of millions of people at risk of flooding, including those in New York City and Philadelphia.
NEW YORK – Tropical Storm Debby may still be wreaking havoc on the Southeast, but tens of millions of people in the Northeast, including those in New York City and Philadelphia, face a significant flood threat as the deadly storm’s tropical moisture spreads up the East Coast of the U.S.
Debby made landfall along Florida‘s Big Bend region early Monday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, leaving at least five people dead in Florida and Georgia, including children.
TRACKING DEBBY: FORECAST CONE, PATH, LIVE CONDITIONS, RAINFALL TOTALS AND MORE
Severe weather, flooding likely for millions in Northeast
The exclusive FOX Model Futuretrack shows heavy rain and thunderstorms pushing into the Northeast on Tuesday.
The FOX Forecast Center said a cold front will be sweeping across the Northeast from the Ohio Valley to southern New England on Tuesday.
As it does so, deep tropical moisture from Debby will be pulled to the north.
The combination of the two means it’s going to be an absolute mess up and down the East Coast due to severe thunderstorms and heavy precipitation.
(FOX Weather)
Severe weather is possible from Indiana to Connecticut on Tuesday.
However, NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has highlighted an area of concern from the Ohio Valley to New England, where there’s a higher risk of severe weather.
Cleveland in Ohio, most of Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and central New Jersey have been placed in a Level 2 out of 5 risk on the SPC’s 5-point severe thunderstorm risk scale.
WATCH: WATERSPOUT COMES ASHORE IN DOWNTOWN BUFFALO, NEW YORK
(FOX Weather)
The severe weather threat will be accompanied by a threat of heavy rain, fueled by Tropical Storm Debby’s moisture surging hundreds of miles northward, significantly increasing the risk of flash flooding across the Northeast and New England.
NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC) has placed areas of the Northeast, including New York City, Philadelphia and Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, in a Level 3 out of 4 risk of flash flooding on Tuesday.
FLOOD WATCH, WARNING AND EMERGENCY: HERE ARE THE DIFFERENCES THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE
(FOX Weather)
The expected heavy rain and thunderstorms prompted the National Weather Service to place millions of people in the Northeast under a Flood Watch through at least Wednesday.
This includes northern Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, most of New Jersey, New York City and southern Connecticut.
(FOX Weather)
Through Sunday, several inches of rain could fall along the East Coast, with the highest totals centered near and along the Interstate 95 corridor from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast.
Widespread rainfall totals of 5-8 inches are expected, with locally higher amounts possible where the heaviest rain bands set up.