Travel Advisory Issued For New York City As Thunderstorms Moves Into the Area
New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) issued a Travel Advisory for Thursday night into Friday and advised New Yorkers to plan ahead for a period of heavy rain, thunderstorms, gusty winds, and possible minor coastal flooding expected to impact the city from late Thursday night through Saturday, with the greatest impacts likely on Friday and during the Friday morning commute. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a citywide wind advisory from late Thursday night through Friday night and several coastal flooding advisories.
“As New Yorkers head into the holiday season, they should experience winter weather with a travel advisory issued for Thursday into Friday,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “New York City agencies have been coordinating and are prepared for this system, and we continue to monitor conditions closely. New Yorkers should all prepare too — avoid driving if possible and give yourself extra travel time with public transit if you do need to travel, stay alert to changing conditions, and sign up for Notify NYC for real-time information updates.”
A weather system passing north of New York State will push a long cold front through the city Thursday night into Friday. Light drizzle and scattered showers may begin around midnight Thursday, with steadier rain developing by about 4:00 a.m. Friday.
There is a general thunderstorm risk starting Friday morning and continues into early Saturday. These storms could bring brief but intense downpours and gusty winds, which may slow road, rail, and air travel.
Rainfall totals of 1 to 1.5 inches are expected across the city, with isolated areas possibly seeing up to 2 inches where thunderstorms develop. Stronger storms could produce nearly 1 inch of rain per hour, or higher. This could lead to localized street flooding, particularly in low-lying or poor-drainage areas.
Coastal flooding is possible Friday morning, with the greatest risk in Staten Island, Brooklyn, and southern Queens, where minor to locally moderate flooding is possible in the most vulnerable shoreline areas. Manhattan, the Bronx, and northern Queens could also see brief minor coastal flooding.
