Rain, Flooding, Wind, Tornadoes: Storm Hits East Coast

March 12, 2010 — -- This is a case of insult added to injury -- two to four inches of rain this weekend, added to mountains of snow that have not completely melted after the stubborn winter of 2010.

Forecasters say the Eastern Seaboard -- the most heavily-populated part from Washington, D.C., north to Philadelphia, New York and southern New England -- is in for a windswept rainstorm that will bring a risk of widespread flooding with it.

"It's a very large system that's planted over the eastern third of the country," said Mike Sowko of NOAA's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md. "It's going to be one of the bigger rain events of the year."

Forecasters say low-pressure systems have planted themselves roughly over Iowa and near the Atlantic coast off of Florida, and aren't goiing anywhere. The result: a mass of moisture that keeps producing rain...and more rain...and more rain.

"It's moving very slowly, so it has time to bombard the East Coast," said Sowko. "If it were winter it would be a blizzard, but fortunately it's too warm for that."

The National Weather Service posted flood watches from western North Carolina up into Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut. In Pittsburgh -- forecast to get heavy rain but less than cities to the east -- the new storm will combine with melting snow to fill the Ohio River to overflowing. The river is expected to crest two feet above flood stage on Sunday afternoon.

The weather service office for the New York metro area put out this advisory: "The rain is expected to become heavy at times late Saturday afternoon and Saturday night. Rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches are possible by Sunday morning." Forecast winds on Saturday were 25-30 mph, with gusts of 40.

"With snowpack still existing across higher elevations," the weather service warned, "river flooding is possible due to excessive runoff. Elsewhere, urban and poor drainage flooding is likely making some flood prone roadways impassable."

Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia were also forecast to get 2-4 inches of rain starting Friday night, though the winds, at 15-20 mph, were likely to be slightly less intense.