This has been the third wettest start ever to autumn in New York City, with rain pelting the pavement every weekend since early September. And now another potential coastal storm threatens to create a seventh consecutive dreary and wet weekend for people across the New York metropolitan region.
The storm will likely form off the Mid-Atlantic coast on Friday or Saturday, bringing potentially significant amounts of rainfall over parts of the Northeast as it moves north along the coast this weekend. The specifics are still uncertain, forecasters with the Weather Prediction Center said Wednesday morning, including the storm’s exact timing and how long it will hang around the coast. Both would affect the amount of precipitation that falls.
If the storm forms early or speeds up, the weekend could be salvaged with a nice crisp, dry fall day on Sunday, said Bill Goodman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New York City.
It will be blustery, no matter the exact timing of the rain. Strong winds will deliver a chill across the region on Saturday into Sunday as the storm system strengthens, even if the precipitation ends earlier. With brisk winds out of the Northwest, this won’t be a classic nor’easter, where the winds come out of the northeast, Mr. Goodman said.
To many in New York City especially, it may not seem fair that another weekend will be wet. Out of 155 years of record-keeping, this is the 13th wettest year to date at Central Park. Only 12 weekends at Central Park have been free of rain this year, with the other 30 anywhere from drizzly to total washouts.
“It’s funny,” Mr. Goodman said, “it seems like we’ve been getting our rain mostly on weekends, and it looks like that that’s probably going to continue.”
And models indicate potentially more rain the following weekend. However, just like it was this week, Mr. Goodman said, Tuesday through Thursday looks excellent next week. So, if you are the type of person who enjoys fall, you might want to get outside midweek.
Mr. Goodman was optimistic that this unlucky wet weekend trend will end by November. He said he will be at the New York Marathon and wants that to be dry.
