After pummeling Florida, a strengthening storm system will drench the Atlantic coast

After wreaking havoc in Florida, a strong storm system is producing widespread flooding, gusty winds and the possibility of tornadoes as it makes its way up the Atlantic coast.

Excessive downpours will remain a threat until Monday morning for most parts of the mid-Atlantic and East coasts and until Tuesday for New England. The storm will continue to move north and enter eastern Canada on Monday night.

In North Carolina and eastern South Carolina, thunderstorms could possibly include “frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, few tornadoes, and a minimal threat of hail,” the NWS said Sunday in its advisory. A flash flood warning is in effect for parts of the South Carolina coast until 3 p.m. EST.

The NWS office in Wilmington, N.C., reported some flooding in southern North Carolina and along the South Carolina coast. It advised that widespread rainfall of 2 to 3 inches was possible and some areas could get 4 to 6 inches.

Meanwhile, Tallahassee, Fla., was forecastto see strong winds with gusts up to 60 mph through Sunday afternoon. NWS warned residents to stay far from outdoor areas with lots of trees and branches, as well as to avoid upper rooms and windows at home.

On Saturday, the storm dumped up to three inches of rain in the greater Tampa Bay region, NPR member station WUSF reported. Meanwhile, more than 18,000 households were without power across the state on Sunday morning, according to PowerOutage.US.

Brendan Schaper, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Melbourne, Fla., said Saturday’s showers broke the daily rainfall records in all seven of central Florida’s tracking sessions. At Orlando International Airport, 2.33 inches of rainfall accumulated, more than double the record in 1912 of 1.08 inches. Meanwhile, in Leesburg, Saturday’s rainfall broke a record for the entire month of December, Schaper added.

The severe weather also once again postponed undocking from the International Space Station of SpaceX’s Dragon, which is packedwith over 3,500 pounds of “science and hardware” and awaiting to be analyzed back on Earth.

The cargo ship was originally schedule to leave on Thursday but its departure was repeatedly delayed this week due to the harsh weather conditions off the coast of Florida where it will splash down.

The spacecraft is expected to undock on Tuesday “no earlier than 5:05 p.m. EST,” NASA announced.

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