Severe Thunderstorms Expected To Rip Through NY Today

After Tuesday's downpour threw a big, soaking wet blanket over many of your commutes, perhaps you are not feeling quite ready to rumble again so soon. Ha ha too bad, because The Weather was born ready. The sky over New York City may look calm now, but as you may have gleaned from the cloud cover and stagnant, sweaty air, the storm is in fact a-comin'. Multiple storms, maybe. We will just have to wait and see about that, but what I can tell you now is that you will almost certainly find yourself plunged back into the subway swamp at some point on this humid Wednesday.

Yesterday, as I'm sure you'll recall, brought a static mist punctuated by bursts of pelting rain. Naturally, the high volume of precipitation wreaked havoc upon the trains, where straphangers enjoyed yet another opportunity to observe spectacular underground weather patterns. Subway floods aside, though, most parts of the city had it relatively easy. Flash flood warnings were issued for the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, but things settled down again by the early evening.

Although this patch of 80-degree temps currently settled over NYC tells another story, the National Weather Service forecasts a cold front encroaching on the Northeast, trailing behind a storm system from the Great Lakes region. Chilly winds are blowing in, hurtling headlong into our current wall of humid air, forcing a collision that may unleash severe thunderstorms. AccuWeather predicts that this system "will threaten over 100,000 square miles of land" and "over 60 million residents" in the region. AccuWeather also refuses to "rule out" tornadoes.

Here in New York City, this meteorological brawl promises to bring the pain, with showers giving way to isolated thunderstorms. "Gusty winds" may exacerbate battering rains this afternoon and into the night, according to the National Weather Service, but—good news—we can expect thunderstorms right around bedtime, i.e. 10 p.m. Indeed, this entire day portends near-perfect napping conditions. Too bad many of you are probably already at work—probably without the waders you'll need to navigate the subways tonight—and can't even enjoy it :(