The Remnants of Ida to Spread Life-Threatening Flooding Rain Threat Into New England – msnNOW

Ida's Remnants Continue to Affect the Northeast

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The remnants of Ida have teamed up with a stalled front to produce widespread heavy rainfall and a significant threat of flooding rain, along with isolated tornadoes, in the Northeast.

Ida inflicted widespread wind and flood damage in southeast Louisiana on Sunday, including in the New Orleans metro area. See this link for the latest details on those impacts and the recovery ahead.

Ida's low-pressure system has tracked through the South and is moving into the Northeast. This combination of ingredients could cause life-threatening flooding from the New York City area into New England into early Thursday.

Several flash flood emergencies were issued Wednesday afternoon and evening due to heavy rainfall. These emergency alerts are issued when life-threatening rainfall is ongoing. These emergencies can be found in pink in the graphic below.

WHAT TO DO: If you're caught in both a flash flood warning AND a tornado warning: Head to the lowest DRY floor of your home or building and move to an interior room.

Radar indicated a few spots closing in on 10 inches between Tuesday and Wednesday from eastern Pennsylvania to New Jersey.

For the latest on impacts in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast see this link.

On Wednesday morning, multiple houses were flooded in West Library, Pennsylvania, and a school bus became stuck in water in Stowe Township. A second bus was rescued along with its 11 passengers in Thurmont, Maryland, Wednesday afternoon.

But flooding escalated Wednesday evening.

More than 4 inches of rain was reported across a wide area of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Tuesday and Wednesday, especially in Pennsylvania and into the New York City metro area. Rain also came down fast. Newark Airport received 3.9 inches of rain in less than 90 minutes Wednesday evening, including a half-inch of rain in 6 minutes. New York's Central Park has also had its wettest day ever.

This kind of rainfall has turned roads - the ones that didn't collapse - into raging rivers and has caused roofs to collapse in New Jersey. Seven people were injured in Kearny, New Jersey, when a 30-foot by 30-foot hole in the ceiling of a U.S. Post Office building fell in due to the weight of heavy water. Cars floated on main streets and near homes and businesses in feet of water. Newark Airport was submerged in feet of water and the New York City subways were shut down. Hundreds of rescues were needed.

The potential for heavy rainfall will expand northward across the Northeast through Wednesday night and then could linger into early Thursday along the Northeast coast. Ida's remnant should push off the East Coast by later Thursday, giving way to a drier weather pattern for the end of the workweek.

Flood watches have been posted by the National Weather Service for this flood threat, from the mid-Atlantic to portions of New England. Where flooding is occurring and poses a significant threat to life, flash flood emergencies have been issued. Those are found in pink below.

In addition, NOAA's Weather Prediction Center (WPC) has issued a rare "high risk" excessive rainfall outlook for Wednesday night from northern New Jersey to the New York City area, much of Connecticut and Rhode Island and into southeastern Massachusetts. When a high risk is issued, the WPC expects severe, widespread flash flooding, potentially including areas that don't normally experience flash flooding.

Some of these areas were recently hit by heavy rain from Tropical Storm Fred and/or Hurricane Henri.

Flash flooding, particularly where bands of rain stall for a period of a few hours and over hilly or mountainous terrain, is expected in these areas through early Thursday.

Flooding of rivers, creeks and streams is likely in at least some locations. Multiple river gauges in parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast already are or are forecast to see major river flooding, according to NOAA forecasts. At least one river in eastern Pennsylvania was four feet higher than the previous record crest due to the extraordinary rainfall on Wednesday.

Do not drive through flooded roads and if you live in a location prone to flooding, then be sure to have a way to receive warning information.

WPC expects the mid-Atlantic to Southern New England to receive 3 to 8 inches of rainfall with localized heavier totals through Thursday.

Isolated tornadoes are frequently a concern with inland remnants of tropical systems.

The potential for a few tornadoes, along with damaging wind gusts, will continue in southeastern New England Wednesday night.

Several tornadoes have already occurred, including one that touched down near Annapolis, Maryland, Wednesday afternoon. Two tornadoes touched down around the Philadelphia metro area, Wednesday evening. A tornado also touched down near Burlington, New Jersey.

Ida began as Tropical Depression Nine on Aug. 26 while south of the Cayman Islands. Just over six hours later, an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter mission found its winds were strong enough to upgrade to Tropical Storm Ida.

A burst of thunderstorms near Ida's center then allowed it to rapidly intensify into a hurricane on Aug. 27 as it moved over western Cuba.

Ida then took advantage of very warm Gulf water, winds aloft spreading apart and plenty of moist air to rapidly intensify again from Cat. 1 to Cat. 4 status in 24 hours from Saturday to Sunday morning prior to its landfall.

Ida's center crossed the coast near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, at 11:55 a.m. CDT Sunday. Maximum sustained winds were 150 mph, making Ida a high-end Category 4 hurricane.

Ida tied two other hurricanes for the strongest landfall on record in the state of Louisiana based on maximum wind speeds. Laura had 150-mph winds when it tracked into southwest Louisiana last year. The other hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana with winds that high was in 1856.

(MORE: Hurricane Ida Gives Louisiana Cat. 4 Landfalls in Back-to-Back Season For First Time)

Ida also made landfall on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall in 2005.

Storm Surge

Storm surge pushed water into many areas outside levee protection in southeast Louisiana, as well as along the coast in Mississippi.

Several NOAA gauges captured peak inundation from 6 to 7 feet above dry ground in Waveland, Mississippi, and Shell Beach, Louisiana during and even after Ida's landfall as strong onshore winds continued to pile water ashore.

Serious storm surge flooding was accompanied by wind gusts over 100 mph in Grand Isle, Louisiana, and multiple homes were reportedly removed from their foundations by storm surge in Galliano, about 25 miles northwest of Grand Isle.

In Plaquemines Parish, overtopping of a levee submerged the town of Braithwaite, also flooded from Hurricane Isaac in 2012. In Jefferson Parish, flooding swamped areas south of New Orleans including Lafitte and Barataria.

Water almost up to a stop sign was seen flowing through the Venetian Isles neighborhood in New Orleans East, an area under mandatory evacuation outside of protection from levees, according to WDSU TV.

Several feet of storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain coupled with torrential rain was captured in video in LaPlace, about 25 miles west-northwest of downtown New Orleans, entering homes and trapping residents.

The combination of storm surge and torrential rain prompted the NWS to issue rare flash flood emergencies for the lakeshore area of metro New Orleans, and also for St. John the Baptist and St. Charles Parishes, including LaPlace Sunday night.

Post-storm surveys will likely find higher storm surge inundation values near the coast once meteorologists examine buildings for high-water marks.

Winds

The National Weather Service issued several extreme wind warnings for parts of southeast Louisiana Sunday, a rarely-issued warning for tornado-like winds of 115 mph or greater in the eyewall of Ida.

According to NOAA's Best Track database, no Category 3 or stronger hurricane had taken a northward path just west of New Orleans similar to Ida in almost 106 years.

(MORE: Why New Orleans took such a damaging strike from Ida)

Numerous wind gusts over 100 mph were clocked in far southeast Louisiana near the coast, including in Galliano and Dulac. A gust to 172 mph was measured aboard a ship in Port Fourchon as Ida made landfall, one of the strongest hurricane gusts on record in the U.S.

Damage was reported in many areas of southeast Louisiana, particularly in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes.

In the New Orleans metro area, wind gusts up to 99 mph not only downed trees and power lines, but also damaged or destroyed some older buildings. Damage was captured on video in the French Quarter, and in other parts of the city.

The winds knocked out power to all of Orleans Parish due to what Entergy referred to as "catastrophic transmission damage". Over 1 million customers lost power in Louisiana from Ida.

Downed trees littered a stretch of Interstate 10 outside of New Orleans Monday, leaving only one lane passable, according to a video posted in social media.

In Mississippi, winds gusted up to 68 mph at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. Trees were downed in parts of central and southern Mississippi, and just over 90,000 customers lost power.

Rainfall Flooding

As if water surging from the Gulf of Mexico wasn't enough, Ida dumped torrential rain in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle.

Up to almost 14 inches of rain was measured in New Orleans before rain ended early Monday. Rigolets-Slidell, Louisiana, reported 15.73 inches of rainfall from Ida.

In Jackson County, Mississippi, an estimated 300 homes were flooded and 150 road closures were prompted. Between more than 10 inches of rain fell near Bay St. Louis and in Hancock. Streets were also flooded in Hattiesburg and Meridian.

Parts of southern Alabama picked up 7 to 9 inches of rain and Wilmer, Alabama, measured 11.24 inches. Walnut Hill, Florida, tallied 8.20 inches of rain.

More than 4 inches of rainfall was reported in parts of Tennessee and Kentucky, including in Athens, Tennessee, and Hanson, Kentucky.

Tornadoes

Monday, a damaging tornado touched down just north of Mobile, Alabama, damaging a motel, downing trees and flipping an 18-wheeler in Saraland.

Another apparent tornado was observed in video in Pike County, southeast of Troy, Alabama.

Other damage possibly from tornadoes was documented in Jackson County, Mississippi, and Clarke County, Alabama, Monday.

The Weather Companys primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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The Remnants of Ida to Spread Life-Threatening Flooding Rain Threat Into New England - msnNOW