US: Storm Fay gains strength on way to New York

Quick-moving Tropical Storm Fay strengthened as it moved toward southern New Jersey, where it was expected to make landfall Friday afternoon before sweeping north to New York with a curtain of heavy rain and thrashing winds. Rain was falling in Manhattan and winds were expected to start to rise as the day goes on, the National Hurricane Center said. | Above: This GOES-16 satellite image taken at 9:30 UTC (5:30 a.m. EDT) on Friday, July 10, 2020 shows Tropical Storm Fay as it moves closer to land in the northeast of the United States.

The system has prompted tropical storm warnings from Delaware to Rhode Island, including in New York, which hasn't had a storm of this magnitude since Sandy in 2012. | Above: The Empire State Building is shrouded in fog and rain in New York City.

Fay, however, is expected to be far less damaging. Its top winds reached 60 miles (97 kilometers) per hour, up from 50 mph earlier, as it churned about 140 miles south of New York, the hurricane center said in an 2 p.m. advisory. "The main impacts will be the heavy rain and flooding across the mid-Atlantic, particularly New Jersey and southern New York," said Rob Miller, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. "It is a fairly quick-moving system and things should start improving rapidly tonight and tomorrow." | A person walks by a rainbow graphic on a building as tropical storm Fay rolls in on July 10, 2020 in New York City.

Flash flooding of streets and low-lying areas is likely as 4 inches of rain gets wrung out from the storm, with some isolated spots getting as much as 7 inches. The strongest winds will be east of the storm moving across Long Island and southern New England, tearing down tree branches, probably causing some power outages and possibly touching off some minor tornadoes in a region that usually doesn't get many of those destructive storms. There could also be some minor storm surge flooding along exposed coastal areas. | Above: Pedestrians use umbrellas to protect themselves from inclement weather brought about by Tropical Storm Fay, Friday, July 10, 2020, in New York.

In New York City the weather brought particularly bad news to more than 6,000 restaurants permitted to offer outdoor dining on streets, sidewalks and curbsides. Almost all are equipped with lightweight tables, chairs, umbrellas and portable partitions. "Tonight's not going to be a great night for outdoor dining, and get your furniture and umbrellas and everything in so they don't go flying away, creating a kind of danger," Mayor Bill de Blasio said, warning restaurant owners during a news briefing. "We expect heavy rain today lasting into early tomorrow, pretty heavy winds, and we need people to be ready for that, and some flash flooding in parts of the city." | Above: A person walks beside a Black lives Matter mural painted on 5th as tropical storm Fay rolls in on July 10, 2020 in New York City.

The storm probably won't get much stronger before it makes landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. and passes over New York from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., Miller said. After its center moves over land it will begin to weaken, and by Sunday it will have faded away. Its winds would need to reach 74 mph to be classified a hurricane. By late Saturday it will have weakened to a tropical depression as it races north across Quebec. | Above: A pedestrian avoids being splashed by passing automobiles during heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Fay, Friday, July 10, 2020, in New York.

A New York Waterway Ferry crosses the Hudson River to New York City from New Jersey as Tropical Storm Fay was expected to sweep across the heavily populated northeastern United States as seen from Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S., July 10, 2020.

Fay will be the third storm to hit the US in 2020 and the sixth system in the Atlantic named so far this year, a record for this point in the hurricane season. While storms that hit in the Gulf of Mexico tend to crimp oil and natural gas supply, often sending prices higher, Fay will likely decrease demand because of power outages and slightly cooler conditions due to cloud cover, said Jim Rouiller, lead meteorologist at the Energy Weather Group LLC. | Above: A woman shields herself from rain and wind with an umbrella as she walks along the Hudson River in front of the skyline of New York City.