New York to Miami will be drenched by East Coast weekend storm

A powerful storm will ride up the East Coast this weekend bringing drenching rain, dampening any hopes for snow ahead of the holiday season. The system will emerge from the Gulf of Mexico, soaking Miami and South Florida late Friday into Saturday, and then move up the Appalachian Mountains to wring itself out on Washington, New York City and Boston Sunday into Monday, said Bob Oravec, a senior branch forecaster with the US Weather Prediction Center. “There is no cold air around so it definitely looks like it’s going to be all rain,” Oravec said by telephone. “It’s going to be rain across the south and even as you go further north,” adding that it’s bad news for ski resorts hoping for snow across the Northeast. The period between Thanksgiving in the US to New Year’s Day tends to be the busiest travel time of the year.<br/>