Results tagged “thunderstorm”

That was one hellacious storm that blasted through the city last night. The worst hit areas were the Upper West Side and Central Park. The rain gauge at Belvedere Castle was on the edge of the storm and recorded .64 inches of rain in just a few minutes. To our semi-trained eye it looked like at least double that amount fell on 116th Street in Harlem.

            

The summer storm that rolled into town a couple hours ago was brief but powerful: There are a number of incidents about downed trees all over Manhattan (see the Gothamist Newsmap), such as "Trees down at West Side Hwy & 70th St," a "downed tree on a taxi" on E 86th St, and "Tree down on a car" at Riverside Dr & 101st St (a tipster writes, "Man was stuck under car for 20 minutes after an entire tree fell on him while he was driving in Riverside Park on 101 st)—some even have requests for "additional chain saws"—we hope no one was hurt.

Today's weather looks like it could have been ripped out of a meteorology textbook. The hazy, hot and humid air mass of this morning will be replaced by a cool, calm, and congenial Canadian high pressure system this evening. The cold front between the two is likely to produce thunderstorms this afternoon as it plows through the unstable air. Before the rain arrives we should have mostly sunny skies and a high in the upper 80s. Watch out for rip currents if you're going out to the beach.

From the National Weather Service, a "Special Weather Statement": "Strong thunderstorms will move into New York City between 1 and 2 PM... At 1134 am EDT...National Weather Service Doppler radar was tracking a long line of strong thunderstorms extending from west central New Jersey southward to northern Delaware moving northeast at 40 mph. Thunderstorms will first move into Staten Island around 1 PM and then into the rest of the city by 130 PM. Cloud to ground lightning is expected along with wind gusts up to 40 mph. In addition...heavy rains will likely result in ponding on roadways." So, it's another stormy Sunday!

      

It's such a pretty day today that it's a little hard to believe that yesterday was practically apocalyptic with the big afternoon-into-evening thunderstorms. Now the National Weather Service has confirmed that the funnel cloud seen in Wantage, NJ did touch the ground and is in fact a tornado. According to WCBS 2, there was a lot of havoc from the tornado, whose winds were up to 120 mph: "Officials say an EF2 tornado tore through the town of Wantage, ripping roofs of some houses, destroying barns, and causing extensive damage to roadways in its path... Two barns were ripped apart; their walls tossed around like pieces of paper. Then there was the silo that tumbled like it was a toy. The silo was made with about 40 tons of concrete and steel all meshed together."

          

Earlier this evening, the skies opened up offered a torrent of rain—not to mention some strong winds that have left downed trees in all the boroughs. Then there were rainbows—and now there's more thunder and lightning! There's still a severe thunderstorm warning in effect; according to WCBS 2, the National Weather Service "has issued the alert for Queens, Kings (Brooklyn), Richmond (Staten Island), New York (Manhattan), and Bronx Counties in New York until 9:45 p.m."

Sometimes the weather can be aesthetically pleasing. Not just in a rainbow and fluffy cloud kind of way, but also in the way the jet stream and upper level disturbances interact with high and low pressure systems near the ground.

The storm cell that brought hail to Yonkers last night skipped the Bronx only to hit Nassau County. The Weather Service is sending meteorologists out this morning to see if some of the damage was caused by a tornado.

There's one more day of rain to contend with before the dry weekend. Two upper level disturbances are going to pass overhead today. You know the drill, look out for scattered showers and thunderstorms from early this afternoon through the evening. These are expected to be slow-moving storms, so they may dump lots of rain where they strike. Also, small hail and gusty winds. We'll see highs from the mid 70s to near 80.

June 12th. The temperature has not been above normal since June 12th. Today threatens to be the first warmer than average day in more than two weeks. This morning's low was 65 degrees. The mercury at Belvedere Castle will need to climb to the predicted high of 85 in order for us to break the cool weather streak. Believe it or not, there is only a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm this afternoon.

The King of Pop is gone but the rainy weather is threatening to be here forever. What looked earlier in the week to be a change toward drier weather has completely collapsed. Memories of yesterday afternoon's few short hours of beautiful sunshine will have to pull us through the next few days.

Do you know what didn't happen between 2am Monday and early this morning? That's right, the city went 48 hours without rain! A high pressure system was able to hold the stubborn cut-off low from moving back into the area.

The non-moving front means the slight hope for sun today has evaporated. Or not evaporated if you want to be literal. Instead a cloudy, drizzly morning will give way to a mostly cloudy afternoon with a slight chance of rain, if not a thunderstorm and, if you are good and eat all your vegetables, just the slightest chance of sun. Winds out of the east will keep the temperature to the low 70s.

Unsettled is this week's weather theme. The primarily west-to-east flow of the summer jet stream will let surface fronts flop around like an oversized Montauk Monster in its death throes. Okay, we're not exactly sure what that analogy is supposed to mean, but there's a weak cold front approaching the city today. The front will stall south of town and make the humid air less stable, leading to an increasing chance of showers from this afternoon through tomorrow. Look for highs in the 70s both days.

What do the first six days of May have in common? Weatherwise at least, it has rained on each of those days. The latest being a quarter inch that fell between midnight and 5 a.m. While we'll get a brief break from the rain today, more precipitation is on tap for tonight on into the weekend.

The weather word for the next three days is rain. Can you say rain? Rain is special. Rain makes the flowers bloom and lets farmers grow fruits and vegetables; healthy foods that you can ignore in favor of donuts and bacon. Three straight days of rain will make adult New Yorkers mutter bad words under their breath. Bad, bad words.

Lots of excellent weather action going on today. The source of weather fun is a big old low pressure system moving up the Ohio Valley toward Buffalo. Tentacle-like warm and cold fronts extending from that low will give New York a variety of springtime weather over the weekend.

Instead of another disappointing coastal storm that have been so common this winter, today brings us a storm that's much more spring-like in nature. The storm, which brought a killer tornado to Oklahoma overnight is bringing a variety of spring weather to the East coast today and tomorrow. For starters, it's warm air from the Gulf coast. Look for a high this afternoon in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Heck, JFK already set a record high of 61 this morning.

A cold front has been slowly approaching the city since last night. The front is going to take all day and probably all night to move completely through the area. Little waves of low pressure like to surf along the frontal boundary. Those waves are likely to kick off showers and thunderstorms from now until tomorrow night. Given how thick the air is with moisture, some of those storms are going to contain periods of intense rain, gusty winds and possibly hail. The likelihood of intense rains has cautioned the issuing of a flash flood watch this afternoon through tomorrow. More ominously, as the day progresses conditions might approach those needed to produce an isolated tornado. The high today will be in the sticky low 80s.

Lots of weather action is in store for today. First, there's a chance of showers for the remainder of the morning. The showers are the remains of storms that formed last night over Pennsylvania. The clouds from those storms will keep today cooler than originally anticipated. Expect a high in the mid 80s. This afternoon's rain is almost a certainty as Gothamist forgot to bring an umbrella to work.

Mother Nature may throw a little temper tantrum this afternoon, so you may want to take an early lunch or have it delivered. A warm front moving north through the city this morning will bring lots of humid, unstable air to the region. A trough of low pressure is expected to follow around 1 p.m. This disturbance will kick off showers and thunderstorms. The storms may contain strong, damaging winds, large hail, and rain of the intense downpour variety. It would not surprise Gothamist if a severe thunderstorm watch were posted later today. The high today will be a very soggy 80 degrees. An approaching cold front tonight will extend the chance of showers and thunderstorms until well after midnight.

Last night's storms provided a vivid light show and wreaked havoc in neighborhoods all across the city and Tri-State area. There are downed trees and power lines all over--crews are working on clean up and repairs.

Ah, rain. After a two-week dry spell, punctured by a few drops over the weekend, the city is finally getting a good soaking. This comes as welcome relief for anyone suffering from tree pollen allergies. The rain is also a relief for those of us who climb the stairs in Morningside Park every day as the urine stench was getting to be a bit much.

The last full day of winter is going to be wet. A low pressure system is moving up through Pennsylvania today as it heads toward the Canadian Maritimes. Steady rain and fog are expected to continue over the city through noon. The warm front that projects off the low should arrive early this afternoon. Once it does the steady rain will turn showery. Showers will last until a cold front sweeps through tomorrow morning. Late tonight some of those showers could be in the form of a thunderstorm. An excellent way to herald the vernal equinox at 1:48 a.m. EDT!

Tomorrow would be a good day to sleep in. All day. It may be sunny outside this morning but that sun is about to be replaced with clouds and heavy rain as a massive storm move up the Ohio Valley. The storm dumped nine inches of snow on North Texas yesterday and is expected to drop a foot or more of snow over the eastern Great Lakes by tomorrow.

The ragged march to winter weather continues. Unlike last month, which was mostly warm for days on end, November keeps bouncing between cold and warm episodes as the atmosphere struggles with the transition to a wintertime circulation pattern. Today will be warmer than normal as the morning rain tapers off to a drizzly fog. The rain's not going away! The tree lighting at Lincoln Center looks to be a soggy occasion. A low pressure...