Millions across the Northeast are bracing for an intense, multiday nor’easter this weekend that is forecast to bring heavy rain and strong wind gusts to the East Coast.
Forecast models Thursday disagreed on the storm’s exact track, but one thing is clear: Wherever it goes, it will hit hard. Forecasters have high confidence in a long-duration onshore wind event that could bring significant coastal flooding.
Coastal flood warnings and watches were in place from the North Carolina coast to New Jersey and Connecticut on Thursday evening, and Boston warned of peak impacts from the storm Friday evening into Saturday.
“Nor’easters aren’t new for New England, but not usually in September, so we’re taking extra preparations to connect with all our residents about this rare fall nor’easter,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in a statement.
New York City Emergency Management issued a travel advisory starting at 2 p.m. Friday and through Sunday.
The highest rainfall totals — 2 to 3 inches or more — are most likely from Rhode Island to eastern Massachusetts. Forecasts indicated the storm could move closer to New York than first thought, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, and the city could get the same rainfall.
Powerful winds, including gusts up to 50 to 60 mph, risk toppling power lines and trees.
Coastal flooding is expected to run 1 to 3 feet above high tide, and a full moon Saturday night could intensify the tides and worsen the flooding. Waves along the coast are expected to reach 12 feet in Ocean City, New Jersey, and up to 22 feet in New England.
Moderate to major flooding is likely from North Carolina to Nantucket, Massachusetts, with southeastern Virginia — particularly the Virginia Beach-to-Norfolk area — at highest risk for major coastal inundation of 1 to 3 feet.
Meanwhile, a separate storm was pummeling the Eastern Seaboard, generating high winds and rough surf.
In Massachusetts, residents were seen this week hauling their boats out of the bay, worried about high tides and flooding from the nor’easter. One person said he’d been “prepping all week for both wind and water.”
One couple changed their wedding plans because of the storm — they had been set to marry this weekend on a Massachusetts beach.
And the Boston Red Sox moved Sunday’s game — the season finale — to Friday to avoid any weather-related delays or cancellations.
Their longstanding rivals, the New York Yankees, did likewise and moved Saturday’s home game with the Orioles to Friday for a doubleheader.
In New Jersey, crews cleared debris from storm drains and flood-prone areas as emergency management officials urged residents to prepare for the incoming storm. Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden recommended charging devices and stocking up on batteries ahead of possible power outages.
Nor’easters are storms that hit the eastern U.S. coast, and they’re called that because the winds move from the northeast. They’re most frequent and most violent between September and April, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Elsewhere in the country, days of heavy rain in the Southwest have triggered major flooding, sending muddy waters sweeping through the streets in New Mexico. The fire department in El Paso, Texas, said it has responded to more than 50 storm-related calls.
In the Pacific, south of Hawaii’s Big Island, what was Tropical Storm Nolo grew to a hurricane Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said in a 5 p.m. local time (12 a.m. ET) update.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane, and was 450 miles south-southeast of Honolulu, the agency said.
A hurricane watch was in place for Hawaii County, which is the Big Island, the hurricane center said. It was also under a tropical storm warning, and Maui was under a tropical storm watch Thursday evening.
Nolo is not expected to make direct landfall in Hawaii. Tropical storm conditions are expected to start late Friday, and hurricane conditions could happen early Saturday, the agency said.
The eastern and southern parts of the Big Island could get 30 inches of rain, the National Hurricane Center warned.
“This rainfall could produce catastrophic life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain,” it said.
