this storm will rain some people s plans out over labor day. this is the heart of the drought zone. we ll get beneficial rains. first we have to get it out of louisiana. yeah. maybe a little silver lining but a lot of water left behind in louisiana. let s go on the ground now. mike seidel is in baton rouge, louisiana. mike, what does it look like where you are? reporter: well, we ve pretty much ended the heavy rain here. we ve got a very fine mist coming down. the winds have shifted around to the southwest indicating the center, willie, has moved to the north and west. it s only moving as bill mentioned, 8 miles an hour. the heaviest rain is off to the east, central and southern mississippi. we re still under a tornado watch as well as new orleans and be a good deal of mississippi until 8:00. they ll probably extend that for the same portions of the area as we have intense rain bands. the wind is gusting maybe 25 to 30 miles an hour. we ve had 5 1/2 inches of rain here. there are
it s not a 3, it s not a katrina or an andrew or storm like that, but for a category 1, it s packing quite the punch. especially in areas right around new orleans. and the storm itself, you can see near new orleans. the worst of it up here, new orleans to the east. and we re seeing this next high tide cycle with flooding. for everyone else out there, we also want to prepare you for your morning and get you out the door this morning. going to be a warm, sunny, beautiful day in many areas of the northeast and mid-atlantic. no problems. yesterday we had that horrendous flooding in charleston, south carolina. there s going to be still a chance of storms today in the southeast but not like what you saw yesterday. but from atlanta to orlando, a chance of storms. and hot in the drought zone. this will be one of the stories that will develop in the days ahead. the rain from isaac. we want that up in arkansas, missouri and illinois and indiana. and it looks like they re going to get it, lynn. p
as expected yesterday afternoon. norms was hit hard, long island and up through rhode island once again. thankfully most of it is gone. the exception is our friends to the north. coastal areas of maine are still dealing with the storm system. along with areas from portsmouth, new hampshire back towards manchester. a shield of light rain so a gloomy look to your thursday morning. lewiston looks like a thunderstorm near you and some showers heading up to the beautiful coastal areas of central maine. boston, if you get any showers, it will be the next hour and then you ll clear out during the day. everyone else, lower humidity, but still a warm day. temperatures easily from 85 to 90 degrees from the urban corridor from new york down through d.c. the southeast, you look dry today, as you also get the drier air mass. the big story is the cold front moved through the middle of the country. the drought zone is cooling off and getting significant rain especially around iowa, illinois and later
the drought is. one spot with exceptional drought conditions in georgia, but the worst has been throughout middle of the country. the red colors are exceptional. the dark red is the extreme. it has been from indiana and it was bad through iowa and nebraska and lately spreading southwards. arkansas was one of the worst hit states. we haven t seen much in the way of rainfall through august through this area. we have gotten relief through ohio and indian a. as far as what you need to know, here are the faxes and figures. this is going on record. the widest coverage since 1956. this is easily considered and compared to the extreme heat and drought conditions in the bowl in the 1930s. farmers s krobs with an estimated $10 billion and costs the taxpayers to reimburse the farmers. we have rain in the drought zone and we picked up two inches of
people up throughout much of western connecticut and massachusetts. some of the strongest thunderstorms with the lightning strikes are now down along the coastal connecticut areas from bridgeport to new haven and heading up towards hartford. we ll watch these tracking in the boston as we go throughout the heart of your rush hour. another line of storms coming through areas like new england from new york city southward as we go throughout the late afternoon. two rounds of storms for this region. also another hot day in the drought zone. here on msnbc and across all the nbc universal networks today we ll be covering the drought of 2012, the worst of it continues to be in the middle of the country. here s some of the drought facts. this is the worst drought out there we ve seen going all the way back since 1956. our crops are in the worst shape ever since 1988. and this is estimated to cost you, the taxpayer, $10 billion by the time it s all said and done. amazing numbers that continue to