Heavy rain overnight into early Saturday morning could cause flooding across parts of northern Connecticut, including Hartford and other communities along the swelling Connecticut River.
The National Weather Service issued an official flood watch starting at 2 a.m. Saturday through Saturday evening for Hartford, Tolland and Windham counties in addition to portions of Massachusetts.
Widespread showers with rainfall of 1 to 2 inches are expected to begin late Friday night and extend through Saturday, with some higher local rainfall totals possible as the storm passes, according to the NWS in Boston.
“The soaking rainfall will exacerbate or renew mainstem river flooding along the Connecticut River,” according to the National Weather Service. “It may also contribute to sharp rises for a few smaller streams within the watch area.”
Minor flooding along the Connecticut River has persisted throughout the week after heavy rains soaked the area Monday.
The river already exceeded flood stage and was measured at 18.9 feet at 11:30 a.m. Friday, forecasters said.
It was expected to continue to rise to almost 20 feet by late Monday morning, at which point forecasters expect flooding in areas of Wethersfield, Glastonbury, Rocky Hill and Cromwell.
“Upstream of Hartford, flooding will continue to affect portions of Windsor. Immediate river roads may become impassable in all of these communities,” according to a weather service forecast update Friday afternoon. “Further downstream flooding will continue to overspread sections of Portland, Middletown as well as Chester.”
Zach Murdock can be reached at zmurdock@courant.com.