Watch live coverage in the video player below as tropical storm Henri makes landfall near Westerly, Rhode Island.
Henri weakened slightly to a tropical storm early Sunday as it was slated to pummel a long stretch of northeastern coastline, where millions on New York’s Long Island and in southern New England braced for the possibility of flooding, toppled trees and extended power outages.
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READ: Henri weakens to tropical storm ahead of Northeast landfall
With the center of the storm projected to pass just off the eastern tip of Long Island by midday, hurricane warnings extended from coastal Connecticut and Rhode Island to the luxurious oceanfront estates of New York’s Hamptons.
The storm had top winds of 70 mph (110 kph) in a 7 a.m. EDT update from the U.S. National Hurricane Center, just shy of hurricane status.
The first thunderstorms bringing what could be up to half a foot (15 centimeters) of rain arrived late Saturday, and flash flooding began in some areas overnight. Bands of heavy rain overwhelmed storm drains and drivers plowed through foot-deep water in a few spots in New York City, and Newark and Hoboken, New Jersey.
DETAILS: Tropical Storm Henri Makes Landfall Along The Coast Of Rhode Island Near Westerly
It became a hurricane Saturday and was downgraded to a tropical storm on Sunday.
READ MORE: Henri Is Now A Hurricane
READ EVEN MORE: Henri strengthens to hurricane as it bears down on Northeast
Watch the live storm tracker (click here if you’re on mobile):
Tropical Storm Henri Makes Landfall
Written by the National Hurricane Center
At 1100 AM EDT (1500 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Henri was located by an Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft and NOAA Doppler weather radars near latitude 41.1 North, longitude 71.6 West. Henri is moving toward the north-northwest near 12 mph (19 km/h). A north-northwestward motion with a decrease in forward speed is expected for the next few hours, followed by a turn toward the northwest this afternoon. The center of Henri is currently passing near Block Island and on the forecast track the center is expected to make landfall in Rhode Island by early afternoon. Henri is forecast to slow down and possibly stall near the Connecticut-New York border tonight, followed by an east-northeastward motion across northern Connecticut and southern Massachusetts on Monday.
Data from the aircraft, Doppler radars, and surface observations indicate that maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 60 mph (95 km/h) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is expected until landfall occurs, followed by rapid weakening after Henri moves inland over southern New England.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles (205 km) from the center. A Weatherflow station on Block Island, Rhode Island, recently reported a sustained wind of 52 mph (84 km/h) and a gust to 65 mph (105 km/h). Another Weatherflow station near Point Judith, Rhode Island, recently measured a sustained wind of 51 mph (82 km/h) and a gust to 69 mph (111 km/h). The NOAA C-MAN station at Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, recently measured a sustained wind of 49 mph (79 km/h) and a gust to 57 mph (92 km/h), while an amateur radio operator in Westport, Massachusetts, recently reported a sustained wind of 41 mph (66 km/h) and a gust to 62 mph (100 km/h).
The latest minimum central pressure estimated from Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft data is 987 mb (29.15 inches).
Tropics Satellite at 11:29 Sunday Morning, August 22nd
Watches and Warnings
CHANGES WITH THIS ADVISORY:
The Storm Surge Watch has been discontinued from East Rockaway Inlet to west of Mastic Beach, New York, and from north of Chatham, Massachusetts to Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts, including Cape Cod Bay.