Eastern U.S. Will be the Target of Rain and Thunderstorms This Weekend

It has been a largely dry and pleasant week for the eastern half of the country, however, that is about to change heading into the weekend. How long will the rain stick around and will there be any severe impacts from this weather maker? Here are the latest details on the weekend forecast for the eastern U.S.

Slow-moving System Will Bring Periods of Rain to the Eastern U.S.

Residents in the eastern half of the U.S. may be dodging storms this weekend, complicating outdoor activities and travel plans. Although the weekend will not be a total loss, there will be enough moisture to put some plans in flux. A slow-moving system is going to fuel up with the warm and moist air circulating in an area between the Appalachians and the Eastern Seaboard. The result will be a good chance of heavy rain and thunderstorms. While not every area will see severe impacts, residents should prepare for the possibility of localized severe storms and flash flooding.

The good news is that it has been a dry week for the bulk of the Northeast following Debby's track through the region last weekend. The dry weather of the last several days has allowed rivers to recede, thus lowering the risk of flooding if more rain falls this weekend.

The forecast is calling for widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches over the next few days with up to 3 inches possible in isolated pockets. This amount of moisture will raise the risk of flash flooding on small streams and other waterways.

The Northeast was mostly spared the flooding that happened in the Southeast at the hands of Tropical Storm Debby because of where the rain fell. Rather than hitting the major rivers that go through the large cities in the region, the moisture fell in a mostly rural area in the Appalachians. This helped to limit the severity of the impacts for the northeastern U.S.

Southeast Will be at Risk of More Flooding

This was not the case in the Carolinas and Georgia, the part of the East Coast that took the brunt of Debby's impacts. This corner of the nation was hit by torrential and widespread rainfall that fell across the major river networks in the region. As a result, the rivers in the lowlands are still running at moderate to high flood measurements. Some of the fullest rivers are not likely to crest until this weekend and into early next week.

While most of the moisture will remain focused in the Northeast this weekend, the Southeast will still be at risk of potentially heavy rainfall events. The overly saturated grounds could have a difficult time taking on any additional moisture, resulting in the risk of flooding.