Eight days of unrelenting heavy rain has set portions of New England awash. Rain, while continuing intermittently today, is finally diminishing.
Persistent onshore winds, frequently above 40 m.p.h. in recent days, built towering ocean waves that have pounded coastal areas and left New England beaches eroded and damaged.
Eight-day rain totals through Sunday afternoon have climbed to 10-16 inches from northern New Jersey to southern Maine.
1,600 miles to the south, a new tropical cyclone is intensifying over the 88° waters of the Caribbean Sea. The National Hurricane Center advises that Hurricane Wilma—the season’s 21st named storm—will emerge this afternoon, and then begin a northward trek that might threaten Cuba toward the weekend. Additional named storms, should they develop, will default to Greek letters (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, etc.)
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
