Severe thunderstorms hammered the Tri-State on Saturday, turning streets in parts of New Jersey and the NYC area into flood scenes and forcing officials to warn that more dangerous weather was still coming. Torrential rain had already triggered dangerous flash flooding by midday, and another round of storms was expected Saturday night.
The weather’s impact was immediate and visible. A man was seen wading through waist-high water after flooding hit Newark and much of the region, while video from Departed Soles in Jersey City showed water pouring from the ceiling. Officials warned people not to enter flooded roads or buildings, a reminder that even brief crossings can turn deadly when storm runoff has nowhere to go.
That disruption spread quickly to major events. The Noah Kahan concert at Citi Field was canceled Saturday night because of the weather, and the New York Yankees said Saturday’s Yankees-Dodgers game would be rescheduled. The game was moved to Sunday, July 19, as the first game of a split-admission doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, with first pitch set for 12:35 p.m. Fans with paid tickets for Saturday’s game can use them for the makeup game or exchange them for another regular season game at Yankee Stadium.
The rain was not just a one-off burst. Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms were expected throughout the day, with the risk of flash flooding, strong winds and possible tornadoes. New Jersey was placed under a tornado watch because the same storm system bringing the heavy rain could also produce the rotating storms needed to spin up a tornado, especially as the atmosphere stayed unstable into the evening.
That made the most important fact of the day the simplest one: the flooding had already started, but the threat had not yet passed. Departed Soles in Jersey City had been forced to close by floods last year, and video from inside the brewery showed the building taking on water again. With more storms set to roll in Saturday night, the question was no longer whether the region would see rough weather. It was how much more rain the Tri-State could absorb before the next round arrived.
