After making landfall in Florida Monday morning, Hurricane Debby has weakened slightly into a tropical storm but is expected to continue crawling its way north and east during the next several days and could bring intense rainfall and flash flooding to the New Jersey region later this week, forecasters said.
One forecaster, Steven DiMartino of NY NJ PA Weather, said it’s not out of the question that the Garden State, New York City and the Philadelphia metro region could get drenched with torrential rain this upcoming weekend, with the potential for “significant flash flooding.”
“It looks like a real mess setting up for this weekend,” DiMartino said in a forecast video Monday. Based on current forecast trends, he says some parts of southern and central New Jersey could get as much as 6 inches of rain from Debby’s remnants.
Even though Debby’s winds eased a bit during the past few hours, the moisture-packed storm is expected to move very slowly across Georgia and South Carolina during the next few days, and it could pummel parts of those states with as much as 15 to 30 inches of rain.
Southern and southeastern sections of North Carolina could get drenched with up to 12 to 16 inches of rain in the next five days, with 6 to 12 inches of rain possible in a wide swath of central North Carolina, according to the latest forecast map from the National Hurricane Center.
The hurricane center said Debby was still packing top sustained winds of 70 mph as of 11 a.m. Monday, and the storm was moving slowly towards the north-northeast at a pace of 8 mph. Forecasters say Debby could stall out over parts of Georgia and South Carolina.
“Potentially historic heavy rainfall across southeast Georgia and the coastal plain of South Carolina through Saturday morning will likely result in areas of catastrophic flooding,” the hurricane center said Monday morning.
Considerable flooding impacts are also expected in parts of northern and central Florida, as well as central and eastern North Carolina through Saturday morning, the agency said.
N.J. flooding threat in next few days
The National Weather Service says New Jersey may have to deal with pop-up showers or scattered thunderstorms Monday night, and a more widespread threat of showers and thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday because of a cold front moving in from the north and west that’s expected to stall near our region.
Although the front is unrelated to Tropical Storm Debby, southerly winds will likely push tropical moisture up north, boosting the amount of potential rain affecting New Jersey, the weather service said.
By nighttime Monday, thunderstorms that include damaging winds could develop in northern New Jersey, forecasters said.
With a front expected to stall over or near the area, heavy rain is possible Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday morning. Isolated to scattered instances of flash flooding are possible. Stay updated on the latest forecast at https://t.co/wTqdsonfJ9.#NYwx #CTwx #NJwx pic.twitter.com/VEVg4gKZ4u
— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) August 5, 2024
On Tuesday and Wednesday, flash flooding is possible in urban areas and places with poor drainage, prompting the weather service to issue a flood watch for 10 New Jersey counties — Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem and Somerset. Those areas are at a moderate risk (at least 40%) of excessive rainfall. Most other areas fall into the “slight” risk category — at least 15%.
The flood watch is active from 5 p.m. Tuesday through 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Current weather radar
Stories by Len Melisurgo
- Tropical Storm Debby on track to dump heavy rain on N.J. region after pounding Southeast
- N.J. power outage tracker: Thousands in the dark as strong thunderstorms lash state
- N.J. weather: Severe thunderstorms spark warnings in multiple N.J. counties
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NJ Advance Media staff writer Jeff Goldman contributed to this report.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.
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