Sudden NYC Storm Delays Planes, Trains And Automobiles

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — New York City commuters face numerous hurdles Monday evening after a sudden storm flooded roads and delayed rails and planes.

The city remains under a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m. from forecasters who, earlier Monday, even warned a tornado or two was possible.

Here's the rundown of how inclement weather is affecting New York City roads, train stations and airports.

Roads

Commuters should expect delays of around 45 minutes for both the lower and upper roadway of the George Washington Bridge due to flooding, the George Washington Bridge's official Twitter account wrote around 4:45 p.m.

Twitter user Gary Martin tweeted out photos of the traffic near the George Washington Bridge around 5 p.m., saying — "Flooded on-ramp to bridge and some traffic lights are out."

Patch was not able to confirm this information.

Video posted to Twitter on Monday afternoon showed streets flooded in Inwood.

The city's Emergency Management office issued flash flood warnings for The Bronx and Manhattan until 6 p.m., warning of heavy rain that could bring up to 2.5 inches of water onto the streets.

In The Bronx, southbound lanes of the New England Thruway were closed at East Gun Hill Road and the Northbound Major Deegan Expressway closed at 179th Street, according to NotifyNYC Tweets.

The NYPD reported the northbound Major Deegan reopened about 6 p.m. but told drivers to expect delays.

All southbound lanes of the Major Deegan Expressway at 230th Street remained closed as of 6 p.m.

The city urged all drivers faced with flooded streets to turn around and not attempt to drive through the water.

Airports

Elsewhere in the city, the rain already fallen Monday has caused major disruptions to flights exiting LaGuardia.

John F. Kennedy Airport saw delays between 1 hour and 31 minutes and 1 hour and 45 minutes, the Federal Aviation Administration reported about 5:40 p.m.

Keep track of flight delays here.

Trains

Roughly 10 subways lines saw delays Monday afternoon, but not all of them linked to weather.

There is also no A train service between 168th Street and Inwood-207th Street as crews work to remove water from the tracks near 181st Street. Subway riders should also expect longer waits for C trains.

New Yorker straphangers, of course, shared video with @SubwayCreatures of water pouring into underground subway stations, specifically at Dyckman Street, Jefferson Street, and another Patch could not immediately identify.

Check on your subway line's status here.

Out-of-town commuters did not escape the train delays.

Harlem Line service was stalled in the storm but has resumed into and out of Grand Central Terminal, but passengers should expect delays of up to 70 minutes.

Forecast

Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before midnight. Some of the storms could be severe. Mostly cloudy, with a steady temperature around 81. South wind 11 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Please send any photos of flooding across the city to gus.saltonstall@patch.com

Patch reporter Matt Troutman contributed to this report.