Northeast Braces For Heavy Rains, Strong Winds

The Northeast is bracing for a strong, slow-moving storm expected to bring heavy rains and high winds to a wide swath of the coast and a half-foot or more of snow to some inland areas.

The messy system moving into the region threatens to bring 2 or more inches of rain to southern New England on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. Wet, heavy snow and gusty winds farther inland could threaten to take down tree limbs and cut power.

Flood advisories are in effect in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island beginning Tuesday morning and stretching into the evening, with significant flooding possible in urban areas and areas with poor drainage.

Some coastal areas are also under wind advisories. The weather service is predicting winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts of 50 mph possible.

Minimal snowfall is expected along the heavily traveled Interstate 95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston, but winter weather advisories have been issued for parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire that are farther inland.

In Massachusetts, the storm is expected to bring mostly rain and strong winds to the eastern part of the state, but some parts of western Massachusetts could see 6 or more inches of snow on Tuesday.

Some higher elevations, including New York's Catskills and Adirondacks, could get up to 2 feet of snow through Thursday before the plodding storm takes its leave.

The heavy, wet snow and gusty winds could combine to bring down tree limbs and power lines, causing outages.

In New Hampshire, which is expecting a mix of rain, snow and sleet, power companies were making preparations for the storm, which comes less than two weeks after nasty Thanksgiving weather knocked out electricity to more than 200,000 people.

Associated Press reporters Bob Salsberg in Boston and Rik Stevens in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.