Henri, downgraded to a tropical depression after making landfall, is moving across New England
- Henri caused power outages and flooding after making landfall in Rhode Island on Sunday.
- The National Weather Service downgraded it from a tropical storm to a tropical depression.
- Henri is expected to bring heavy rain and flooding as it moves east across Massachusetts through Tuesday.
About 50,000 people across Rhode Island and Connecticut are still without power after Henri made landfall as a tropical storm near Westerly, Rhode Island, on Sunday afternoon.
Henri was downgraded to a tropical depression after its maximum sustained winds dropped below 39 mph on Sunday evening.
As of 11 a.m. ET on Monday, Henri was moving east at 6 miles per hour, with winds of 30 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is 45 miles northeast of New York City and expected to move over the Atlantic by Tuesday morning.
Up to 3 inches heavy rainfall are still expected across eastern Pennsylvania, southeast New York, New Jersey, Long Island, and portions of New England.
That heavy rain may keep producing flash floods across southern New England, New York City, and the area around Albany, New York.
The NHC added that an isolated tornado or two is possible across southern New England on Monday afternoon.
A rare New England landfall
Henri was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane on Saturday, but deteriorated in strength Sunday morning before hitting Rhode Island.
Even though Henri made landfall as a tropical storm, not a hurricane, it nonetheless caused flash flooding across New York and New Jersey. Manhattan's Central Park recorded record levels of rain, with more than 4 inches between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. The New York Times called it "the wettest hour on record for New York City."
Emergency services in Newark, New Jersey, rescued more than 80 people as drivers were left stranded in flooded streets, local officials said.
NOAA predicts up to 13 more named storms this season
By definition, any cyclone-shaped storm with winds faster than 39 mph is a tropical storm. Storms get named once their winds reach that speed. After winds hit 74 mph, a storm becomes a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Henri is the year's eighth named storm; two other storms, Elsa and Grace, also became hurricanes. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, with activity peaking around September 10.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted that there will be a total of seven to 10 hurricanes in 2021, and up to 21 named storms. That includes three to five major hurricanes - meaning Category 3, 4, or 5, with winds at least 111 mph. Grace - which made landfall in Mexico as a Category 3 hurricane - has been the only major hurricane so far this year.
Overall, the average number of storms per season has increased due to climate change, so NOAA recently updated the baseline numbers it uses to make seasonal hurricane predictions. The agency now defines an average season based on data from 1991 to 2010, when the average was 14 named storms, seven of which were hurricanes. Previously, NOAA considered an average season to have 12 storms in total, with six being hurricanes.