Heavy rain and wind from D.C. to New England are on the way. AccuWeather's Ali Reid is with AAA in Philadelphia where driving conditions will worsen throughout the day.
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00:00All right, let's talk about our top story this morning. It's a rapid storm that's moving between
00:04Interstate 81 and Interstate 95 across the northeast and mid-Atlantic. It's going to pack
00:11heavy rain. Boy, there's going to be a damaging wind event as well this afternoon from the Jersey
00:15shore all the way up into New England and travel disruptions, you betcha, from D.C. all the way
00:21in toward New England. The storm will also impact the southeast with heavy rain and strong storms.
00:26We'll be monitoring power outages along the east coast. All right, meanwhile, joining us right now
00:32is AccuWeather's Allie Reed. She is live in Philadelphia. You know, the big story so far
00:37hasn't been the rain yet in Philadelphia. It's coming, Allie, but explain to our viewers just how
00:43I think the best way to describe this, it's balmy this morning in Philadelphia.
00:47Does my hair explain it enough? Okay, 60 degrees in December is wild, okay, for this time of year.
00:58And by the, by the way, tomorrow is supposed to be back to cold temperatures again.
01:02It is certainly all over the place. And yes, that has been a talker this morning. We also have
01:08someone joined with us. We've got Triple A, Jayna Tidwell, with us this morning. How are you?
01:12Fine thanks, Allie. How are you? You know, you showed up this morning. Bernie just mentioned,
01:16obviously, the humidity. You showed up in flip-flops. Yeah, I did. I did. It's 60 degrees
01:22in December. It'll be below freezing tomorrow. Go figure. Yeah, that's Philadelphia for you,
01:27really kind of the east coast in general. But we were talking about the weather, what that
01:32could come into play later on this afternoon or for the later part of the morning commute. We're
01:37talking rain and wind. And with those two factors in the Philly area, what does that mean for
01:42drivers? For drivers, it's going to mean it compromises the roadways and it makes it very
01:48different. Slippery, slick. You need to slow down. It also impairs your visibility. Those are the
01:55biggest challenges. It's harder to drive and it's harder to see. Now with that visibility,
02:01we were talking yesterday, right? That fog, that was the talker yesterday morning in Philly.
02:07So really between yesterday and this morning, the fog yesterday kind of bogging down the
02:11visibility and the rain and wind, that'll be the factor for visibility today. You said slow down,
02:18maybe keep a larger distance for maybe someone in front of you, especially on a major roadway
02:24like I-95, which we have behind us here. I-95 will be difficult once the heavier rains start
02:30and those gusty winds start. So drivers definitely need to slow down. Reason being,
02:36you need to maintain control of your vehicle or as much control as you can. So slowing down and
02:42increasing your following distance. Reason being, if you have to make a move, if you have to change
02:47lanes, if you have to exit the roadway, you need to understand what's all around you. We were
02:53talking about that transition from fall into winter. There's leaves on the ground right now
02:59adding into that slippery effect. And if we see significant rainfall here, we know there are
03:05plenty of parts of Philadelphia that flood very easily. Mix that into all of this, water is going
03:11to be a big topic of concern potentially later today. All the drought or the dry spell that we
03:17have, we're getting a boatload of rain now. Thank goodness for that. Yes, and we're grateful for it.
03:22However, all of the oils and chemicals that are on the roadways that, you know, that drip from the cars,
03:27that's coming up now. That causes a slick roadway condition. The leaves are still here. Some storm
03:33drains are covered and filled with leaves. We saw crews out yesterday cleaning out the storm drains
03:38so that all of this intense rain that's going to come quickly has a place to go. But the challenge
03:43for drivers will be if we get a lot of rain really quick, it's not going to have a place to go and
03:49we're going to see standing water. And that's the most important thing. If you see any standing water,
03:54do not attempt to drive through it. Now, I think people in Philly, they can breathe a sigh of
03:59relief. I don't think we're going to get icy conditions here, right? Not right now. Let's hope
04:04not. And Jada's a flip-flops, okay, this morning. But again, for those that may be up north,
04:10could be a different scenario. Maybe as you get further into Pennsylvania, Northern New York,
04:16or even New England, might get those icier conditions this evening. So for those people in
04:21that area, take it slower. The same rules apply. Give yourself plenty of extra time, take it slow,
04:27increase your following distance. Be especially careful on those on-ramps and off-ramps,
04:32because if there is precipitation there and the temperatures drop below freezing,
04:36those will freeze first. Will you hang with me for another hour or so? Of course, it's balmy here.
04:41Yeah, Jada's going to be hanging around for a little while longer. We've got plenty to talk
04:45about. She's got a lot to say this morning for those that are going to be out on their morning
04:49commutes. Bernie Ari will send it back to you. Thankfully, hey, I don't mind it, no rain right
04:54now. We'll see what happens over the next couple of hours. It sounds like it may only be some time
05:01until the rain comes our way. So we'll check in with you in a bit. It's like tax day. You can't
05:06put it off. The rain's coming. It's just going to be a couple of hours.