Photo: ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP / Getty Images
By: The opinion Published Sep 24, 2023, 8:46 pm EDT
Almost a day after being downgraded from a tropical storm, Ophelia is still a threat with coastal flooding, life-threatening surf and heavy rain from Washington to New York City, the National Hurricane Center said.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia brought heavy rain and above-average winds to the tri-state area on Sunday, as the National Weather Service warned of possible flash flooding.
Ophelia made landfall in North Carolina on Saturday as a tropical storm, but quickly lost strength as it moved up the East Coast.. On Sunday morning, its sustained winds were only 25 mph.
But the storm, now classified as a post-tropical cyclone, continued to pose a threat due to its slow movement and heavy rain.
“This rainfall may produce localized flash, urban, and small stream flooding impacts across portions of the Mid-Atlantic region to southern New England.“said the National Hurricane Center in its final warning for Ophelia. “Isolated river flooding is possible in areas of heavier rainfall.”
Although Ophelia was demoted on Saturday night, Forecasters warned that storm surge would affect the East Coast for the rest of the weekend., probably causing dangerous surf conditions and rip currents. Ophelia was also expected to drop 1 to 3 inches of additional rain over parts of the Mid-Atlantic and New England. Isolated river flooding was also possible.
Ophelia was south of Washington on Sunday morning and was expected to continue moving northeast before turning east and then weakening further over the next two days, according to the hurricane center.
Meanwhile, Philippe was 1,175 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands, which lie off the western coast of Africa. That storm had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.
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