The National Weather Service is forecasting the chance of heavy rain and high winds into Monday, with the foul weather driving the chance of large waves and beach erosion. The agency called for 1.5 to 2 inches of rain to fall, in total, during the weekend storm.
☔️🌧️ ☔️ As rain begins to move into the region this morning, here is our latest forecast for the total rainfall for the first low pressure system of the weekend. The heaviest rain with this round will be during the overnight hours tonight into Saturday. #DEwx #MDwx #NJwx #PAwx pic.twitter.com/M7vYrq3fVF
— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) April 28, 2023
The NWS forecast called for rain, heavy at times, throughout the night between Friday and Saturday, with an east wind 25 to 30 m.p.h., with gusts as high as 40 m.p.h. About three-quarters of an inch or rain was expected to have fallen by morning.
During the day Saturday, rain will continue throughout the day with a high of 57 degrees. It will be windy, with an east wind 25 to 35 m.p.h., with gusts potentially exceeding 50 m.p.h. Another inch of rain may fall Saturday. A chance of rain will continue before 11 p.m., then a slight chance of rain after 5 a.m. Sunday, the NWS said.
On Sunday, the NWS forecast said, a chance of rain will continue in the morning, then rain and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. with a high of 59 degrees. An additional half-inch of rain may fall during this time period, though the winds will decrease to 15 to 20 m.p.h. Sunday night, rain with a possibility of thunderstorms will be a risk before 11 p.m., tapering off to showers as the night goes on.
The storm will exit by Monday morning at about 8 a.m., the NWS said. The day will turn out to be mostly sunny, with a high near 60 degrees.
Offshore, a gale warning will be reduced to a small craft advisory as winds lessen, though winds will be sustained at about 34 knots during the height of the storm. Seas will run 6-11 feet on Saturday, before calming to 4-6 feet on Sunday, and 5-7 feet on Monday. It will be Tuesday before waves subside to 3-5 feet.