NYC Nor'easter Floods Streets, Slams City With 60 MPH Winds

NEW YORK, NY — A powerful nor'easter storm slammed New York City with strong winds and a deluge of rain on Friday, bringing some travel to a halt and rankling city roadways.

Forecasts predicted the storm would bring wind gusts as strong as 60 MPH and flood city streets as up to four inches of rain soak the five boroughs, the latest National Weather Service forecast shows.

Heavy winds forced LaGuardia Airport to halt all arrivals and departures for more than an hour Friday afternoon. John F. Kennedy Airport also stopped all arrivals for more than 90 minutes.

The suspensions came after hundreds of flights were canceled at the region's airports due to the storm. The airports said extensive delays would likely continue into Friday evening.

Amtrak suspended all trains on its Northeast Corridor line between Boston and Washington, D.C. until Saturday because flooding, high winds and downed trees caused problems it coudn't fully fix, the company said on Twitter.

City roads were also messy. A truck overturned on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge between Brooklyn and Staten Island, temporarily closing the bridge's upper level in both directions, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman said.

The bridge's lower level is still open, the MTA said, but certain vehicles are barred from crossing because of the wind, including tractor-trailers, motorcycles, vans, mini buses and vehicles carrying dangerous cargo. Similar restrictions were in place on the Throgs Neck and Whitestone bridges between Queens and the Bronx as of Friday evening.

City Department of Transportation crews worked Friday afternoon to remove a down tree that was blocking a ramp onto the Grand Central Expressway in Queens, a tweet from the agency shows.

Forecasters predicted winds strong enough to down trees, knock out power lines and make travel tough for large vehicles. The city is under a high wind warning until 6 a.m. Saturday.

The strongest winds will come late Friday afternoon through Friday evening. The gales could sustain speeds between 25 and 40 MPH and gust at even higher speeds, the National Weather Service says.

Nearly two inches of rain had fallen on the city between Thursday evening and Friday morning, the National Weather Service says. Another two inches of rain and heavy, wet snow are expected before the storm starts to drift out of the area Friday evening.

That much precipitation will likely flood some city streets. A flood advisory is in effect until 5 p.m.

The storm could also flood some coastal areas, such as Jamaica Bay in southern Queens, the Battery in Lower Manhattan and the south shore of Staten Island. Beachfront neighborhoods in Queens will be under coastal flood warnings at various times until early Sunday morning.

The city will finally see some relief from the storm Saturday morning. The rain is expected to stop in Central PArk before noon and the sun will eventually come out, bringing Saturday's high up to 46 degrees. The winds will stick around, though — gusts as strong as 32 MPH are predicted.

Here's a closer look at the weekend's forecast, courtesy of the National Weather Service.

Friday
Rain before 11am, then rain and snow. The rain could be heavy at times. Temperature falling to around 36 by 1pm. Wind chill values between 25 and 30. Windy, with a north wind 14 to 19 mph increasing to 27 to 32 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Friday Night
Rain and snow, mainly before 11pm. Low around 35. Wind chill values between 25 and 30. Windy, with a north wind 24 to 32 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Saturday
A slight chance of rain and snow before 8am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 46. Wind chill values between 25 and 35 early. Breezy, with a north wind 18 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. North wind 14 to 17 mph.

Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. North wind around 14 mph.

Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 32.

(Lead image: Pedestrians walk through a storm in Manhattan in February 2015. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)