NYC coastal storm forecast: Impact on early Christmas travel Sunday into Monday

NYC coastal storm forecast

High winds and rain is expected to pummel most parts of the city, Long Island, and southern Connecticut.

WASHINGTON - Christmas travel is getting underway this weekend, but the FOX Forecast Center is tracking a developing coastal storm that will impact millions in at least 20 states – including New Jersey, New York and Connecticut – as it slides up the East Coast this weekend and into early next week, slamming the region with heavy rain and strong wind.

A high wind watch has been issued for Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, coastal Connecticut and New London County.

There is a wind advisory for Manhattan, Staten Island, the Bronx, parts of Westchester and southern Connecticut.

So, if you’re among the over 115 million Americans expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday season, you'll want to prepare for delays on the roads and at some of our nation’s busiest airports if your travels take you to the East.

The futuretrack of a coastal storm through Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. (FOX Weather)

New York City timing

"Timing is everything," FOX Weather Meteorologist Craig Herrera said. "When you’re talking about Sunday, Monday, this is when we’re watching all of this energy coming together."

And the impacts from the storm will vary as it slides up along the Interstate 95 corridor.

"This is really one of those systems that is going to produce a whole lot of rain up and down the I-95 corridor," Herrera continued. "You’re talking rain, more of it, from Florida clear up into New England."

Millions of people in the eastern U.S. are at risk of seeing impacts from a powerful coastal storm this weekend. (FOX Weather)

The storm system will continue to sweep across the Plains states and Midwest this week. As it does so, it’s expected to spawn a low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico, which will bring heavy rain, flash flooding and coastal flooding, and strong winds to Florida and parts of the Southeast.

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That low pressure system will then begin to slide up the East Coast early next week, bringing with it heavy rain, a flood risk and gusty winds.

There’s also the possibility that cold air could get wrapped up on the back side of the system as it pushes farther north, producing snow in parts of the Northeast.

New York City impacts

Major cities like Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston could see 2-3 inches of rain.

The flash-flood risk on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023. (FOX Weather)

In addition, if cold air does get wrapped around the back end of the storm, snow could fall in the higher terrain of the interior Northeast.

The FOX Forecast Center warns the storm could create major travel disruptions on the roads and at airports in the eastern U.S., starting as early as Saturday.

"It’s a stretch that is so popular for driving," FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. "I mean, the 95 corridor on any weekend can get slammed. But you put in the fact that next week is the last full week before Christmas, and also we’re finishing up Hanukkah. You know, it’s going to be a lot of people that are trying to drive up and down the East Coast."

Forecast rain totals in the Northeast. (FOX Weather)

At the region's busy airports, rain combined with low clouds will slow down arrivals and departures, and the wind will also create issues for planes attempting to take off or land on some runways depending on their direction.

"We will easily have wind gusts that are 40, 45 mph, depending on the position of the low," Merwin continued. "That could actually increase the wind in the forecast. That’s probably the most volatile variable in this when it comes to placement – depending on where the low is over land or over the water."