A developing coastal storm is forecast to lash the East Coast with punishing rains and wind over the weekend and into Monday.
The system is currently battering portions of Nicaragua and Honduras, according to ABC News meteorologists. There is a 40 percent chance it will develop into a tropical depression in the next two days.
Regardless, the storm will bring a heavy downpour to Florida by Saturday as it continues to move north.
After that, the system is expected to interact with a strong cold front sweeping across the East Coast this weekend. Together, the two will help develop a strong coastal storm.
By Sunday evening, the storm will be strengthening off the coast of Northeast and eventually move across New England Sunday night or early Monday morning.
The system has the potential to bring rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches and locally up to 6 inches in some areas of upstate New York and New England. Strong wind gusts of up to 40 to 60 mph are also possible.
The storm is poised to strike five years to the day Superstorm Sandy came ashore on the East Coast in 2012. That storm, which was significantly more powerful than the one brewing in the Atlantic now, resulted in the deaths of 53 people in New York state alone and caused billions in damages.
