Truckers face ongoing flood threat in Northeast

Heavy, flooding rain that began in the South over the weekend eventually began drenching parts of the Midwest and Northeast Wednesday.

While flash flooding was spotty, the threat for more downpours and potential flooding remains across the Northeast for the first full day of autumn Thursday. It’s all thanks to a cold front that’s merging with the remnants of Hurricane Nicholas.

Rain amounts

The National Weather Service expects a fairly narrow band of rain to move slowly across the Northeast over the next two days. Embedded areas of heavy rain could produce at least an additional inch of accumulation in some locations. Ponding on roads, as well as potential flash flooding and closures are possible. The NWS still had flash flood watches in place from portions of Maryland, central and eastern Pennsylvania, southern New York and southwestern Connecticut.

The watches include the Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City metropolitan areas.

Look for widespread rain totals of 2 to 4 inches across the watch areas, with up to 5 or 6 inches possible in high-terrain locations.

Low-lying regions and areas with poor drainage will be prone to flooding even though they may not receive the most rain.

By early Saturday, most of the rain will be stuck across northern New England, particularly in Maine.

Lanes of concern

• Interstate 76 from Philadelphia to Fort Littleton, Pennsylvania.
• Interstate 80 from Snow Shoe, Pennsylvania, to I-95/Fort Lee, New Jersey.
• Interstate 81 from Winchester, Virginia, to Binghamton, New York.
• Interstate 84 from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Danbury, Connecticut.
• Interstate 95 from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Washington.
• U.S. Highway 1 from Bridgeport to Washington.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.

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