Tropical Storm Fay churns north toward NYC, New England

MIAMI — Rain lashed the New Jersey shore Friday as the fast-moving Tropical Storm Fay churned north on a path expected to soak the New York City region.

The storm system was expected to bring 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) of rain, with the possibility of flash flooding in parts of the mid-Atlantic and southern New England, The U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. advisory. That’s down from earlier forecasts of about 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 centimeters) of rain.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect from Fenwick Island, Delaware, to Watch Hill, Rhode Island. The warning area includes Long Island and the Long Island Sound in New York, forecasters said. The center of the storm remained off the mid-Atlantic Coast on Friday morning.

President Donald Trump said the storm is being monitored and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was poised to help if needed.

“We’re fully prepared. FEMA’s ready in case it’s bad. Shouldn’t be too bad, but you never know,” Trump told reporters while departing the White House for Florida. “But at this moment … it’s looking like it’s going to be hitting New Jersey fairly soon. And we are fully prepared.”

The storm picked up speed Friday morning, moving north around 12 mph (19kph) and producing top sustained winds of 60 mph (97 kph), forecasters said. Earlier observations showed it moving at 8 mph (13 kph) with top sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph).

Fay is the earliest sixth-named storm on record, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. The previous record was Franklin on July 22, 2005, Klotzbach tweeted.

Two named storms formed before the official June 1 start of the hurricane season. None of this season’s previous five named storms strengthened into hurricanes.