Henri Hits NYC With Wettest Hour Ever Recorded

NEW YORK CITY – The rainiest day since 2014 hit New York City Saturday as Tropical Storm Henri neared landfall – with a single hour being the wettest ever recorded in the city.

Mostly during a two-hour window Saturday evening, 4.45 inches of rain drenched Central Park, official records kept by the National Weather Service show.

Of that, 1.94 inches fell between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., the most ever to drench the city in an hour since the National Weather Service started keeping records.

The downpour left roads flooded and forced the city to scrap its massive Homecoming Concert after two hours of performances in Central Park. A crowd of thousands was told to evacuate and seek shelter as rain and lightning approached.

Henri is expected to hit the East End of Long Island as a tropical storm late Sunday morning or early afternoon, before veering north and losing power as it travels towards Connecticut. It was downgraded from a category 1 hurricane earlier Sunday.

New York City is under a tropical storm watch, with heavy rain continuing through the day and wind gusts of up to 45 mph, according to the NWS.

Saturday night saw flooding on roads across the city. The Brooklyn Queens Expressway had all lanes closed due to standing water near Kane Street in Cobble Hill Saturday night, according to the Office of Emergency Management, and 1 and 3 train service was temporarily suspended in parts of Manhattan because of flooded tracks.

All area airports were reporting significant disruption to flights.