Spencer Platt/Getty Images Updated 10:09 a.m.
Good cloudy Tuesday morning to you.
This is just the beginning.
If you do not own a working umbrella, today might be a good day to invest in one.
We are in for some major rainfall.
The rain will be on and off through tonight.
Then it gets steadier, until on Wednesday evening, when Mother Nature turns the tap all the way on.
By the time the last drop falls Thursday, forecasters expect 3.75 inches in the city.
“That’s almost a month’s worth of rain in just a couple of days,†said Tim Morrin of the National Weather Service.
And the most in one spell since last June.
If it were snow, it would be more than three feet.
And it won’t be nice warm tropical rain, either.
The storm system is the same one that flung tornadoes across Arkansas over the weekend. As it spins slowly northeastward, it will pick up cold, moist air off the still chilly Atlantic.
This will keep temperatures in the low 50s.
Widespread minor coastal flooding is expected tonight.
Wednesday, a flood watch is in effect for low-lying areas, small streams and rivers.
Mr. Morrin predicts “heavy ponding, really disrupting travel.â€
Here’s what else you need to know.
COMMUTE
Subways: Check latest status.
Rails: Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or N.J. Transit status.
Roads: Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s or the 8s.
Alternate-side parking is in effect all week.
COMING UP TODAY
- E-cigarette regulations go into effect in the city. The devices are banned in indoor public spaces, parks and beaches.
- The Republican candidate for governor Rob Astorino speaks at a Crain’s forum at New York Athletic Club. 8 a.m.
- Volunteers answer immigration questions on a free hotline this week, at CUNY’s Guttman Community College in Midtown. …
- … While immigrant advocates protest collaboration between the city and federal immigration authorities at Federal Plaza at 11 a.m.
- Dos Equis gives away cactuses in Flatiron Plaza for its run-up to Cinco de Mayo. Noon.
- A rooftop installation by Dan Graham, “comprising curves of steel and two-way mirrored glass between ivy hedgerows,†is unveiled at the Met. [$25 suggested]
- Diane Keaton signs her memoir, “Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty,†at Barnes & Noble in Union Square. 7 p.m. [Free]
- Werner Herzog’s documentary “Grizzly Man†is followed by a talk with a wildlife journalist, at BAM. 7:30 p.m. [$13]
- Rangers look to eliminate Flyers on the road. Yankees host Mariners. Mets visit Phillies.
- For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.
IN THE NEWS
- Representative Michael G. Grimm, of Staten Island, was indicted on fraud charges. [New York Times]
- A man and a woman died after jumping off the George Washington Bridge together. [New York Post]
- Three men were sentenced to 20 years in prison for their roles in the city’s scandal-ridden payroll project known as CityTime. [New York Times]
- The ancient Obelisk in Central Park will get a laser cleaning starting this week. [Gothamist]
- A group of Occupy Wall Street veterans is effectively advocating for tenants threatened by gentrification in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. [New York Times]
- A note from a man claiming to be trapped in a Chinese prison factory was found in a Saks Fifth Avenue shopping bag. [DNAinfo]
- A feminist pole dancing performance, involving ropes, scaffolding, bungees “and even the performers’ own shirts and socks,†takes place in Williamsburg this week. [The Brooklyn Paper]
- A man who was said to have been trying to carjack a taxi in the Bronx had to cling to the side of the vehicle for several miles when the driver stepped on the gas. [CBS]
AND FINALLY …
Today in Staten Island, junior scientists from the Cub Scouts and middle schools may be out-squirmed by their subjects.
They will be counting eels.
They are glass eels that have migrated from the Sargasso Sea to Richmond Creek.
In their infancy, they are just an inch or two long, translucent and spaghetti-like, visible only by the black of their eyes.
Later, they grow thick, opaque, and up to four feet.
The thousands of glass eels that come to our waters are a sign of improved water quality, environmental officials said.
They may stay for up to 20 years before returning to the sea.
Sandra E. Garcia and Kenneth Rosen contributed reporting.
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