Wicked rainstorm with whipping winds set to pummel NYC overnight — ‘major flooding’ potential with 60mph gusts
A wicked storm is set to wallop New York City with potential major flooding and wind gusts of up to 60 mph — just in time for the Monday morning commute.
The drenching dose of Mother Nature already delivered near-record storm surges in Charleston, SC, and was expected to creep into the city Sunday night before rapidly intensifying overnight into Monday, FOX Weather Meteorologist Cody Braud told The Post.
“It’s very similar to either, A – a Nor’easter, or B – kind of like a tropical system,” Braud said. “There’s just no snow … and there’s just no tropical nature to the storm, but the impacts are pretty much going to stay the same regardless.”
Mayor Eric Adams went on a Sunday media blitz to warn residents to leave their cars at home Monday, when the worst of the storm is expected to blast the city and potentially cause major flooding and power outages.
“Use public transportation, that’s the best way to get around,” Hizzoner told 1010WINS.
“The coastal areas, partially the Jamaica Bay area, we can anticipate some coastal flooding in the city. It’s going to intensify tonight and into tomorrow morning, that’s why we put out a travel warning,” Adams said of the advisory, which goes into effect at midnight.
“Long-term New Yorkers, we know as soon as we hear about a storm, we know the trouble spots, we know what happens on the Belt Parkway, we know the roads in our own communities, and so those normal areas when you have heavy rainfall we should be looking out for and staying away from,” Hizzoner added.
Christina Farrell, first deputy commissioner of the city’s Emergency Management agency, added, “Rockaway, Hamilton Beach, Howard Beach, and Broad Channel are the main areas of concern.
“We could see widespread moderate to some major flooding,” Farrell said at a Midtown Manhattan news conference alongside the mayor.
As city officials inspected catch basins and drainage infrastructure in low-laying areas, they were also “keeping a close eye” on the tent structures housing migrants on Randall’s Island, Creedmoor Psychiatric Center and Floyd Bennett Field, Adams said.
“The city has been preparing all week. We started inter-agency calls on Thursday,” Farrell said. “Also, when we see winds of this magnitude we may see some power outages, so people should keep their phones and devices charged.
“And, also, it is a holiday time. Once you’re prepared, please check in on your neighbors, senior relatives, anyone with special needs that may need a little extra help in the holiday spirit.”
Braud noted, “It won’t be severe in nature but with the gusty winds … it will feel a little more extreme.”
The heaviest rainfall would come at the start of the morning commute, he said.
The city suspended alternate-side-parking regulations Monday because of the storm.
“Damaging winds may result in multiple power outages. I want to stress that even after the heaviest rain and strongest winds have ended, moderate to locally major coastal flooding is predicted tomorrow afternoon,” Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol said Sunday.
The downpours are then expected to clear out of the city by Monday afternoon, but unsustained heavy wind gusts were set to persist as high temperatures creep up into the low 60s — almost 20 degrees above average for this time of year, the forecaster said.
“There’s no snow at all associated with this system, which doesn’t happen too often,” Braud explained. “Normally, we expect the cold air to already be in place.”
“The cold air is trapped to our north in Canada, and actually as that system moves and the wind direction does change … that will start to allow that cold air that’s trapped north to kind of dip down, and there will be some substantial snow showers on the back side of it Tuesday,” he said, adding that the snow would fall in Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
New York City’s temperature was set to plummet into the 30s on Tuesday and hit the freezing mark Wednesday, according to FOX Weather.
The mayor, while warning New Yorkers of the weather threat, said no one should be bowed by the rain.
“There’s no better place to be in the country around this holiday season than in New York City, from the tree lighting a our shops, our stores, to all of the activity that takes place, and a little rain is not going to get in our way because we are resilient, not only New Yorkers but America’s and international travelers that come from all over the country to experience the beauty of the holiday season in New York,” he said at an event Sunday marking the closing-off of a section of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan for pedestrian traffic for the holidays.
Meanwhile, on the southern tip of Brooklyn, Coney Island’s Luna Park, now open through January, canceled its holiday Frost Fest over the warnings.
But Coney Island Polar Bear Club was undeterred by the weather reports Sunday, and stalwart bathers stripped down for their weekly plunge in the ocean.
While the air temperature remained well above normal, the sea was an imposing 48 degrees, according to seatemperature.net.
Carlota Wojnar, 63, who joined the club before the pandemic, commutes to Coney Island weekly from her home in Westchester County for the dip.
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” she said of her frequent plunges.
Wojnar’s fellow “bears,” Ellen Weinberg, 62, and Pat Heiss, were similarly steadfast.
“That never stops us,” Heiss told The Post, brushing off storm warnings. “Bad weather never stops the polar bears.”
Both Weinberg and Heiss are seasoned open-water swimmers, and Weinberg added that Coney Island’s beaches are sheltered by the Rockaways, meaning the waves are usually less intense — however low the temperatures may dip.
