Massive storm set to strike East Coast from Florida to Maine affecting holiday travel

Families travelling home for the holidays on the East Coast may find their plans disrupted by a major storm, which is set to rock the Florida peninsula over the weekend before making its way northwards.

Communities in eastern coastal areas may experience dangerous conditions including high winds, heavy rain and flooding spanning from Sunday to Monday, according to weather forecaster AccuWeather.

However it will not be the white Christmas many are hoping for, with little snow expected.

Conditions are expected to deteriorate quickly from south to north on Sunday and Sunday night, the forecaster said, adding that road travel would likely be slowed and air travel may also be affected.

NOAA’s Storm Prediction Centre (SPC) also said there was a possibility of “severe” storms in northeast South Carolina and eastern North Carolina on Saturday and Sunday.

Bernie Rayno, Chief On-Air Meteorologist for AccuWeather said the weather system would have the look and feel of a tropical storm.

“There is the likelihood of damage along the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts from this storm as it intensifies rapidly and produces a zone of strong winds that pushes water from the Atlantic toward the shoreline, while at the same time, heavy rain pours down,” Mr Rayno said.

“Wind gusts will range between 40 and 60 mph and could approach 70 mph along the coast.”

The SPC also listed the primary hazard for the storm as “damaging wind gusts”. Gusts of 74 mph or greater are considered hurricane-force winds. Beach erosion will occur, and some damage to dunes and other beach structures is possible.

The system may also fall just short of being classified as a “bomb-cyclone”. The phenomenon occurs when central barometric pressure within a storm falls 0.71 of an inch of mercury in 24 hours or less.

Communities in eastern coastal areas may experience dangerous conditions including high winds, heavy rain and flooding (AP)

Heavy rain is also expected to hit the areas hard, with AccuWeather predicting a “broad-zone” in which one to four inches, or even five, will pour down in an area extending from North Carolina to Maine.

The combination of heavy rain with a surge of water from the Atlantic will lead to moderate flooding in coastal beach communities with “back bay and tidal river flooding” from the Carolinas to Maine, according to AccuWeather.

Further north, heavy rain is expected to hit a zone stretching from Virginia to New York during Sunday, moving to New England from Sunday into Monday.

Commuters in Boston and New York may experience difficult conditions that may hamper their travels on Monday morning. In the southwest zone from Philadelphia to Washington DC, conditions will improve, but some roads may still be blocked by high water or debris.

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