Super Soaker

All you have to do is look at all the rainfall records smashed by this storm to realize just how incredible this weather event has been.

By late afternoon, rainfall records were toppling all over the region. The Central Park total was second only to the 8.28 inches that fell there on Sept. 23, 1882. The previous record for the date — 1.82 inches — was erased early in the day. At La Guardia Airport, 6.5 inches fell, surpassing the 1.64 inches of 1990, and at Kennedy International Airport, 2.2 inches was recorded, topping the previous record of 1.84.

Other records that fell by 5 p.m. were in Philadelphia, with 3.36 inches (1 inch in 1906); Trenton, with 3.08 (1.3 in 1906); and Reagan National Airport in Washington, with 2.53 (1.94 in 1983).

Wind gusts of up to 48 miles an hour were clocked at Kennedy. The highest wind hit 71 miles an hour at Charleston, S.C., the National Weather Service said. Before tapering off today, the storm was expected to have dropped more than 4 inches of rain across the region, as well as a foot or more of snow in parts of upstate New York and northern New England.

All that rain has to go somewhere, and that means quite a bit of flooding along rivers and streams.

As I commuted in this morning, I saw the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers were over their banks and causing problems for low lying areas. Paterson, New Jersey had quite a bit of street closures near the Passaic, and I can only imagine the thunderous roar of the Great Falls with all that extra water cascading over the 70 foot high cataract. A current listing of rivers at or above their flood stages can be found here.

Weather alerts continue until further notice.

UPDATE:
New Jersey declared a state of emergency for the entire state and many municipalities have cancelled school for the day. Flooding in some areas may approach levels not seen since Hurricane Floyd left its mark on the state.

UPDATE:
Rivers around New Jersey continue to rise, forcing evacuations around the state. The Delaware River appears to not be in danger of flooding, but areas like Bound Brook and Lodi are getting hammered.

UPDATE:
Via NJ Transit: Due to the anticipated flooding all Path entrances inside of the Hoboken Terminal are sandbagged and closed. Passengers must use the outside elevator on the bus side of the station to access Path. Path is operating normally at this time. The NJ Transit train tracks were flooded out in sections at the terminal as well - some requiring the trains to be dispatched from further out on the platforms.