NEW YORK – On Friday morning, a vast portion of the East Coast found itself under High Wind Alerts as the concluding phase of a nationwide storm battered the Eastern Seaboard from Maine down to Florida. This weather event poses a significant threat to the bustling holiday travel season.

Major airports, including LaGuardia and Teterboro, are already grappling with ground delays ranging from 60 to 90 minutes, primarily due to the intense winds.

Early Friday saw temperatures hovering in the 50s, but as the storm system exits, a robust cold front is expected to sweep into the Northeast. By evening, temperatures could nosedive into the teens in several locations.

The East Coast experienced a heavy downpour early in the day, with rain expected to persist into the late morning across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast before moving out.

Meanwhile, parts of the Southeast experienced such warm conditions that Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued for the Charlotte, North Carolina metro area on Friday morning.

The rain could lead to some isolated flash flooding across northern New England due to extra water runoff from snow-covered grounds.

NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has issued a Level 1 out of 4 flash flood risk for an area covering northern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine through Friday.

The parent area of low pressure driving the coast-to-coast storm will remain well within Canada, keeping the coldest air and snow locked to the north. However, lake-enhanced snow showers are expected later Friday for the lake-effect snow regions off Lakes Erie and Ontario, as well as the interior Northeast.

Powerful wind gusts to threaten East Coast holiday travel

Powerful wind gusts have been the hallmark of this coast-to-coast storm, after causing hundreds of thousands to lose power across the Pacific Northwest and Rockies earlier this week.

These strong wind gusts will reach the East Coast Friday and could cause air travel disruptions across some of the country’s busiest airports during what is expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Winds are forecast to increase as Friday progresses. The National Weather Service has issued Wind Alerts across the Northeast, as well as across the Appalachians into North Carolina.

Wind gusts up to 60 mph are possible across the New York City metro area through Saturday morning.

This latest storm bears out the long-range outlook from NOAA last month that forecast an active start to meteorological winter, due in part to the La Niña climate pattern.

Friday evening flash freeze for Northeast

A cold front will move in quickly behind the departing storm system and temperatures will begin to drop beginning Friday afternoon. 

According to the FOX Forecast Center, the rapid temperature drop may cause leftover rain to freeze, leading to black ice and dangerous driving conditions Friday evening and overnight.

Temperatures could reach the teens and 20s by Friday night, with low temperatures Saturday morning in the 20s and 30s across the region.

Freezing conditions are expected to depart quickly, beginning Saturday afternoon.