July 15, 2012 Storm Updates

Below, short updates will be posted on the heavy thunderstorms affecting the area. Live updates can also be found in the NYC Area Weather twitter page.

Today's discussion will be posted once the storm updates are over, with information on the nearly 100 degree heat coming for Tuesday, strong to possibly severe storm potential on Wednesday, and the much cooler weather that will follow. An update for the 5-Day Forecast page is in progress and will be completed by 6 PM.

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Blog Storm Updates:


Twitter updates can be found in the NYC Area Weather twitter page.

7:30 PM: The heavy storms earlier this afternoon in Orange, Rockland, Westchester and Fairfield counties resulted in areas of flash flooding, with as much as 3 inches of rain observed in 1-2 hours in some areas. Strong winds were also observed with the storms. Since then, the storms weakened as they moved into Suffolk county in Long Island.

Additional storms are moving into SE NY, with more storms in Orange County adding to the heavy rain totals observed earlier today. The heavier storms are expected to miss northern NJ, where areas of moderate rain and thunder are expected in the next 1.5-3 hours.

4:45 PM: The latest regional radar posted to the left shows widespread shower and heavy thunderstorm activity across the region. With precipitable water values above 2 inches, storms are capable of producing heavy rain and flash flooding in a short period of time. So far this afternoon, heavy storms were observed in SE NY, with amounts in Rockland, Orange and Westchester counties locally above 1-2 inches.

These storms will move into southern CT for the next few hours as additional heavy storm activity in Pennsylvania begins to enter the area. These storms will also be capable of producing heavy rain and localized flash flooding. A few storms may become strong or possibly severe, but most of the activity today will stay below severe levels.

(Updates prior to 4:45 PM were on twitter.)