00:53 Below-Average Temperatures for Much of the Nation Next Week For much of the country next week, it's going to feel like fall.

At a Glance Just days before Christmas, heavy rain – not snow – resulted in more flooding in the East.

This is only the latest soaker in one of the wettest years on record. More heavy rain triggered more flooding just days before Christmas, adding to one of the wettest years on record.

Before heavy rain drenched the Northeast, severe thunderstorms and a few tornadoes moved through Florida.

Trees were downed and a porch was off a home in Manatee County, Florida, near Myakka City, from an EF0 tornado Thursday morning. Another EF0 tornado damaged a home in Polk County, Florida, south of Lake Wales.

A third EF0 tornado was confirmed in Fort Meade, Florida, where trees were uprooted. Additionally, at least 20 mobile homes were damaged by severe thunderstorms near Zephyrhills, Florida.

(LATEST NEWS: Florida Storms Damage Homes, Take Down Trees )

Parts of the Tampa/St. Petersburg metro area picked up 2 to 6 inches of rain Thursday. Amateur radio reported flooding in Bradenton at an animal shelter, and water was seen entering homes along Phillippe Creek in Sarasota.

Thursday smashed the record-wettest December day dating to 1911 at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, where more than 4 inches of rain was measured. A record daily rainfall for Dec. 20 was also achieved in Tampa, where more than 3 inches of rain fell.

Heavy rainfall then spread into the Northeast.

Among the four dozen reports of flooding Thursday night into Friday morning included a flooded stretch of Interstate 476 near Villanova University and Interstate 676 in downtown Philadelphia, a water rescue near Honey Brook Township, Pennsylvania, flooding on U.S. 30 in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, and a flooded viaduct in downtown Huntington, West Virginia.

(MORE: Northeast Flooding, Holiday Travel Delays)

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/FLOOD-REPORTS-20-21DEC18.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/FLOOD-REPORTS-20-21DEC18.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/FLOOD-REPORTS-20-21DEC18.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > Estimated rainfall (contours) and reports of flooding (blue circles) from Thursday evening through early Friday morning in the East. (Storm reports: NWS)

Farther north, numerous roads were flooded from New Jersey to Massachusetts on Friday. In addition, hail up to dime size was reported early Saturday in southern New Jersey.

Winds also downed trees in southern New England on Friday.

Why Another Soaking?

By late December, you may expect a snowstorm to be a concern in the Northeast rather than another rainfall flood event.

In this case, another sharp plunge of the jet stream pulled a plume of deep moisture northward from the Caribbean Sea.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/FLOOD-SETUP-20dec18.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/FLOOD-SETUP-20dec18.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/FLOOD-SETUP-20dec18.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > The various meteorological factors in play for the flood threat in the East through Friday night. The various dots indicate locations where river stages are currently above flood stage. (River flood stage data: NOAA/NWS, USGS)

This deep tropical tap sent atmospheric moisture values skyrocketing in the East. The precipitable water value Friday for Gray, Maine set a new record for the December through March period and a new December record for precipitable water was set for December in Caribou, Maine .

Soil moisture is also anomalously high from North Florida to the mid-Atlantic states after a succession of soaking rain events this month.

According to the Southeast Regional Climate Center, it has been the wettest start to December on record through Dec. 18 in Tallahassee, Florida, and Hatteras, North Carolina, and various other locations from the mid-Atlantic states to the Southeast have had a top-10-wettest December-to-date .

(MORE: 2018 is the Wettest Year on Record For Some )

If that wasn't enough, a fresh round of snow earlier this week in northern New England added to the snowpack there. A changeover to rain falling on this snowpack increases the concern of flooding, as pointed out by the National Weather Service office in Caribou, Maine.

Many rivers are above flood stage from Florida into the eastern Carolinas and into parts of the Northeast and will likely remain at least in minor flood stage through at least this weekend.