Jan 30, 2013 Storm Updates

Updates will be posted on the rain, thunderstorm and high wind event currently affecting the region. Live storm updates will be posted on Twitter, with a few detailed updates in the bottom of this post. This afternoon's forecast discussion for this storm can be found here.

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Live storm updates will be posted on Twitter occasionally throughout the day.

Latest Twitter Updates:  (Scroll to the bottom of the post for blog updates)

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Blog Updates:

9:05 AM: Following last night's update, occasional showers moved into the western parts of the area, but a thin line of heavy rain moved through the area later in the overnight hours, reaching NYC towards 4 AM. This line produced very heavy rainfall rates considering the time of the year, with locations west and north of NYC reaching and exceeding an inch of rain; some locations recorded as much as 1/2 inch in just 1 hour. Wind gusts were strong as well, with widespread gusts between 45-60 mph in the immediate NYC area, Long Island and southern CT, with some stations in Connecticut and Long Island reporting gusts above 65 to even 70 mph.

As of this morning, the rain bands are exiting the eastern parts of the area, with windy conditions expected to continue today, including gusts up to 45-50 mph. After the unseasonable warmth yesterday and last night, with Newark, NJ setting a record high temperature of 64 degrees, temperatures will steadily fall throughout the day into the 40s and 30s. The next forecast discussion will be posted tonight, with more information on several upcoming light snow events, including one throughout the day on Sunday with accumulations possible.

12:05 AM: The area of heavy rain and thunderstorms over Pennsylvania, after training in place for a few hours, is starting to advance east towards the area; more steady rain is developing in western locations, and will continue to intensify over the next 1-2 hours while gradually spreading east towards the closer suburbs of NYC. Towards 2-4 AM, the heaviest rain is expected to move through northern NJ, SE NY and NYC, weakening as it heads towards Long Island and southern CT; stronger wind gusts are also expected around this time frame.

This is the last update for tonight. A review of tonight's storm, as well as an update on the forecast for the weekend light snow potential, will be posted tomorrow.


10:35 PM: Over the last few hours, the heavy rain remained mostly west of the area, with locally moderate showers for some locations west of NYC while the heaviest rain trained over Pennsylvania. Latest radar estimates and airport measurements show most of the area so far has received less than 0.10 inch of rain, with the highest totals so far west of NYC. The strongest wind gusts currently remain further south towards southern-central New Jersey, generally up to 25-40 mph.

As expected, the heaviest rain so far stayed west of the area, but will begin to advance eastwards over the next few hours, with a thin line of heavy rain and thunderstorms expected to move through the area later tonight, moving into locations west of NYC approximately between 1-3 AM and east of NYC between 3-5 AM. The rain will continue for several hours afterwards, ending by the early morning hours. Strong wind gusts are still expected tonight, in the 45-60 mph range for most, as the low level jet continues to intensify with 925mb winds peaking near 90 knots in the eastern parts of the area, some of those mixing down to the surface. Stronger winds will continue into Thursday as well, with a west wind gusting up to 40-50 mph.

5:15 PM: Since the last update earlier this afternoon, temperatures have spiked into the mid 50s to low 60s across most of northern NJ and parts of NYC, while Long Island and southern CT continue to observe fog, dense in some locations, with temperatures in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Temperatures are expected to remain generally steady throughout the evening and early overnight hours, likely rising in parts of Long Island and southern CT.

The cold front is currently located near western Pennsylvania; the latest radar to the left shows a weakening area of precipitation over Pennsylvania, which will continue to track east with occasional showers for western and northern parts of the area this evening and early tonight, but the main storms to affect the area tonight are still over the Southeast US, with a squall line developing later this evening and early tonight near western Virginia and Pennsylvania and gradually tracking east, reaching locations west of NYC between 1-4 AM and locations east of NYC after 3-4 AM. Heavy rain is expected with amounts generally up to 1/2 to 1 inch, locally higher in interior north/west areas; strong wind gusts are expected as well, in the 45-60 mph range across the area. Rain is expected to end for most except for eastern areas by Thursday morning with windy conditions expected to continue.