After receiving only piddling amounts of rain for more than a month, nearly two inches fell in yesterday's round of storms. That was enough to cause flooding, power outages and a dramatic lightning display. With more heavy rain expected today and tomorrow, the National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for the city and many surrounding areas through Tuesday evening.
The cold front that brought all of yesterday's rain has stalled out just south of the city. Because of that stalled front there is an insane temperature gradient across the region today. To our north Newburgh will only warm to the mid 50s, the city will reach the mid 60s, and southern New Jersey and Delaware will get close to 90 degrees. Lots of moisture and a stalled frontal boundary give us the potential for lots of rain. Look for round after round of showers and thunderstorms until the next cold front pushes this mess away late tomorrow.
Tuesday's frontal passage sets us up for a sunny and mild Wednesday, with an expected high near 70 degrees. A slight warming trend will take place toward the end of the week as Thursday warms to the lower 70s and Friday the mid 70s. Another cold front late on Friday may bring another round of showers to start the weekend but it is too soon to worry about that.
More than half of last month's rain fell between 5 and 6 p.m. yesterday. Take a look at this graph. Before the rain started yesterday afternoon the month was on pace to be the third driest May on record. But the 1.46 inches of rain pushed last month down to a tie with 1885 as 27th wettest May. Last month was also the second warmest May in Central Park since observations began in 1869, falling short of 1991's record warmth by only two-tenths of a degree.
