Storm brings rain, thunderstorms to eastern US into this weekend and travel hassles

Friday, January 4, 2019

The storm system that brought snow, ice and travel disruptions across parts of Oklahoma and Texas midweek, will get heavy rain and thunderstorms from the Deep South to the mid-Atlantic into this weekend.

Drenching thunderstorms that erupted over the lower Mississippi Valley and Louisiana on Thursday will expand into the Southeast and Tennessee River Valley Friday.

The storm system will begin to weaken by Friday evening however; some rain is expected in  the mid-Atlantic states and Interstate 95 corridor from Washington, D.C., to New York City from Friday night into Saturday.

Some rivers have been above the flood stage for several weeks and even months in some cases. More rainfall will only exacerbate the ongoing flooding issues in the South.

As per Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist said that potent storms track well inland and pull warm and humid air northward leading to risk of severe thunderstorms.

The primary threat from any stronger storms would be localized incidents of damaging winds. The soil is saturated, and it is not expected that there will be toppled trees and power outages.

If the roadway ahead is covered with water, it is advised to take an alternate route, as it is impossible to tell how deep the water is using only the naked eye.

Anybody with travel plans in the threat zone should reduce speed if they encounter heavy rain to avoid hydroplaning and other related problems.

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