The remnants of Debby to bring the potential for heavy rain across New York later this week
The flood threat from Debby will move into the Northeast as the center of Debby is circling up the coast. For some parts of New York State, this will be the second round of torrential rains to drench the area for the week.
''So right now, we have a flood watch in place for the entire Downstate region. We're expecting heavy rain across New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley. When is it starting? Not this weekend, it's starting this afternoon and continuing through tomorrow morning,'' said Governor Kathy Hochull of New York.
The worst of today's weather bypassed the Twin Tiers to the south, bringing flooding rains and severe weather to parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Downstate New York. We will not be so lucky later this week as it is becoming more clear that heavy rain could be on the way.
''There will continue to be a threat for heavy rainfall that could lead to localized flash flooding and even potentially some small stream and river flooding. The uncertainty is really how rain we are going to get and where would the heaviest rain fall,'' said Ben Lott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Binghamton.
Due to the increasing threat, Governor Hochul is deploying resources to keep New Yorkers safe.
''It's too early to tell the impact that Debby will have on New York, but every model shows that we are in the bullseye, right in the path of this storm coming. For that reason, and what we're experiencing today, I've already activated New York State's Emergency Operations Center for the entire week. I've already activated 100 members of the National Guard,'' said Hochul.
While there continues to be some uncertainty, the heavy rain threat is growing. A couple of days ago, only a few models showed the remnants of Debby bringing heavy rain to our area. Tuesday, almost all is showing this scenario to some degree. This is called model agreement/convergence and it increases confidence in a particular forecast.
Both the Governor and Ben Lott urge everyone to monitor the forecast and stay vigilant. The First Warning Weather Team will keep you updated throughout the week.