More Arthur: And Yesterday Wild; Today Will Be Wet

As expected, there were some wild thunderstorms across the Northeast on Wednesday.

Hurricane Arthur yesterday. It's expected
to hit coastal North Carolina early Friday.  

Most of the worst storms extended from eastern and northern Pennsylvania, eastern New York, western Massachusetts, and western and southern New Hampshire and into Maine.

There were even a couple tornado warnings in Pennsylvania and New York, but I know of no confirmed tornadoes so far.

In northwestern New Hampshire, my weather watching bestie Ellen reported widespread storm damage around Littleton, with many trees down, including one on a house.

Interstate 93 southbound near Littleton was closed for a time due to fallen trees. Also, seven firefighters battling a structure blaze in Guilford, Vermont were injured when lightning struck close to them. Looks like they're going to be OK, thank goodness.

In New Hampshire 80 people had to be rescued from a campground after high water cut them off.

Thunderstorms today in the Northeast might not be as destructive as yesterday's but still, severe weather is expected. So are torrential downpours, which could cause renewed flash flooding.

More on that in a moment, but first, everybody wants to know about Hurricane Arthur.

Yep, it's a hurricane now. The National Hurricane Center upgraded Arthur from a tropical storm to a hurricane early this morning after its sustained winds reached 75 mph. It'll probably get a little stronger as it approaches coastal North Carolina.

Arthur will be close to North Carolina early Friday morning. Parts of the Outer Banks have been evacuated, and other sections of the coast are battening down for winds of up to 85 mph and storm surge flooding.

It looks like Cape Cod and the Islands, and southeastern Massachusetts will feel the effects of Arthur late Friday night and Saturday morning as it passes just southeast of New England. Heavy rain and tropical storm force winds are possible in those areas of Massachusetts as Arthur passes.

Before that, we have more storms to contend with. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center says there is a threat of severe storms today from southern Maine, through most of New Hampshire and Vermont, southwestern New England, eastern and southern New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and on down into Virginia.

While there will certainly be damaging wind gusts from storms in this zone today, I think flooding is a bigger concern. Some areas got soaked by storms yesterday, and today's storms will really pour the water down, given the tropical air that's over the Northeast.

Flash flood watches are up in most of the areas that are under the risk zone for severe thunderstorms today.

I bet we'll see reports of cars suddenly stranded in high water in streets, local creek flooding, that type of thing.

Heavy rain will continue in areas tonight, especially closer to the coast.

The good news is the forecast for the rest of the weekend remains solid. It looks like Friday afternoon will be nice in the interior Northeast, and coastal areas will join in the fine weather Saturday and Sunday.