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(NEW YORK) — Firefighters battling an outbreak of wildfires across the Northeast amid a historic autumn drought could get some relief from Mother Nature by the middle of this week.

A rainstorm on the way is forecast to reach the Northeast by Wednesday evening. The heaviest rain is expected Wednesday night through Friday from Northern New Jersey to upstate New York and New England, possibly bringing 1 to 2 inches of rain.

The forecast also calls for a chance for snow in western Pennsylvania and upstate New York and into New England on Thursday and Friday.

But until wet weather arrives, critical fire danger conditions will persist throughout the drought-stricken Northeast, officials said. Winds of up to 30 mph are expected to kick up across the Northeast Monday afternoon, and relative humidity is forecast to fall 35%.

Monday marked the second straight day that no new red flag warnings have been issued in the Northeast after nearly a full week of the region being under red flag warnings.

The pending precipitation will be a welcome sight to the hundreds of firefighters still fighting the Jennings Creek Fire burning on the border of New York’s Orange County and New Jersey’s Passaic County.

Joe Pollina, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Upton, New York, told ABC on Monday that 1 to 1 1/2 inches of rain is forecast for the area where the Jennings Creek Fire is located.

“It definitely will help when it comes to the fire,” Pollina said of the rainy forecast.

Over the weekend, the fire, which has burned about 5,000 acres, prompted hundreds of voluntary evacuations when flames jumped a containment line near Greenwood Lake and threatened homes in the private beach community of Wah-ta-Wah Park, according to New York State Parks Department spokesperson Jeff Wernick. On Sunday, Orange County fire officials said efforts to protect structures were successful and no structures were damaged.

The cause of the Jennings Creek Fire remains under investigation.

A New York State Parks and Recreation employee was killed earlier this month while helping the battle the Jennings Creek Fire, officials said. The deceased parks employee was identified by the New York State Police as 18-year-old Dariel Vasquez.

On Sunday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered that flags at state facilities be lowered to half-staff to honor Vasquez.

“Dariel was only 18 years old and had a truly bright future ahead of him that has now been unfairly taken away,” Hochul said. “I commend his dedication to serving and protecting his fellow New Yorkers and his bravery on the front lines.”

The majority of the Northeast has seen less than 25% of normal precipitation over the last month.

Many locations are also having their driest autumn on record, including New York City, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and Bangor, Maine. Boston is in the throes of its second driest fall season on record.

Northeast temperatures are also running 5 to 10 degrees above average for this time of year. The added warmth increases the drying of soils and other fuels such as leaves.

Since Oct. 1, New Jersey firefighters have responded to at least 537 wildfires that have consumed 4,500 acres, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, while officials at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said New York fire crews have battled 60 wildfires since Oct. 1 that have burned 2,100 acres.

At one point last week, the National Weather Service had issued numerous red flag fire danger warnings throughout New Jersey and New York. At least 15 New York counties were under red flag warnings last week, including New York City and all of Long Island.

Multiple wildfires broke out across the Northeast, including some in New York City, where one ignited in the Inwood neighborhood of upper Manhattan and another scorched wooded land in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

The rash of fires in New York City prompted the New York Fire Department to create the first “brush fire task force” in the department’s 100-year history, FDNY Fire Commissioner Robert S. Tucker said.

In the first 14 days of November, the FDNY responded to 271 brush fires citywide — the highest amount in two weeks in New York City history, according to Tucker.

ABC News’ Max Golembo contributed to this report.

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(NEW ORLEANS) — Two people were killed and nine were hurt in two shootings near a second line event in New Orleans on Sunday afternoon.

In the first incident, eight people were shot and injured, police said.

The second shooting was reported about 45 minutes later, police said. Two victims died and one was hospitalized in stable condition, police said.

The police department said it immediately shut down the second line. A second line is a type of parade with live brass band music.

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(NEW YORK) — A man has been taken into custody after allegedly killing two people and injuring a third in an apparent stabbing spree in Manhattan, authorities said.

The first victim, a 30-year-old construction worker, was fatally attacked on West 19th Street at 8:22 a.m. Monday, the NYPD said.

About two hours later, another man was fatally stabbed on East 30th Street, police said.

The third victim, a woman, is in critical condition after being attacked around 10:55 a.m. on East 46th Street, police said.

The 51-year-old suspect — who lives at the Bellevue Men’s Shelter on East 30th Street — allegedly provoked disputes with the victims, according to police. He appeared to pick the victims at random, police said.

Two knives have been recovered, police said.

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(SEATTLE) — An 11-year-old is among three suspects who’ve been arrested in connection with a string of armed robberies at convenience stores and gas stations in the Seattle area, police said.

The 11-year-old, a 21-year-old and a 19-year-old are accused of four robberies committed within two hours early Friday morning and a fifth robbery Friday night, Seattle police said.

The suspects, who wore face masks and were armed with guns, demanded merchandise and cash before fleeing in stolen cars, police said.

No one was hurt, police said.

After the fifth robbery on Friday night, the suspects led several law enforcement agencies on a car chase that spanned multiple jurisdictions, police said.

The suspects eventually stopped the car and fled on foot, and were then taken into custody without incident, police said Saturday.

The adults were booked into King County Jail and the 11-year-old was taken to the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children & Family Justice Center, police said.

No guns have been recovered, police said.

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(WASHINGTON) — The White House has condemned an incident over the weekend in which a group of masked individuals with Nazi flags marched through the streets of Columbus, Ohio.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement President Joe Biden “abhors the hateful poison of Nazism, Antisemitism, and racism,” which he called “hostile to everything the United States stands for, including protecting the dignity of all our citizens and the freedom to worship.”

“Hate directed against any of us is a threat to every single one of us,” Bates said. “This sickening display comes during a tragic rise in Antisemitic rhetoric and violence that is a crises the American people should all come together against. That is why President Biden launched and continues to act on the first ever national strategy to fight Antisemitism in American history.”

On Saturday afternoon, a group of unidentified individuals marched through Columbus wearing black and carrying flags with swastikas on them.

The individuals were also “armed with firearms,” according to the Columbus Police Department.

Members of the group were detained, but no arrests were ultimately made, police said. Police said officers had initially been advised of a possible “physical altercation,” but released the detained individuals after determining “an assault did not take place.”

Officials spoke out after photos and videos of the demonstrators circulated widely across social media.

In a statement from the city of Columbus, city officials said they “reject the cowardly display” and would work with police to monitor the situation.

“The Columbus community stands squarely against hatred and bigotry,” the statement said. “We will not allow any of our neighbors to be intimidated, threatened or harmed because of who they are, how they worship or whom they love. We embrace tolerance and acceptance, and derive great strength from our diversity. It is who we are as a people, and it is precisely what has enabled us to grow and thrive and reach new heights of excellence.”

“We will not tolerate hate in Ohio,” Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement on social media Saturday. “Neo-Nazis — their faces hidden behind red masks — roamed streets in Columbus today, carrying Nazi flags and spewing vile and racist speech against people of color and Jews. There were reports that they were also espousing white power sentiments.”

He added, “There is no place in this State for hate, bigotry, antisemitism, or violence, and we must denounce it wherever we see it.”

The incident came a week after another group of masked individuals were seen waving Nazi flags outside a production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in Howell, Michigan.

ABC News’ Molly Nagle contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office are expected to rest their case Monday against Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran who is charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide in the chokehold death of a homeless man aboard a New York City subway car.

Penny, 25, has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Jordan Neely’s death.

Defense attorneys will finish their cross-examination of the medical examiner, Dr. Cynthia Harris, who concluded “there are no alternative reasonable explanations” for Jordan Neely’s death other than Penny’s chokehold.

She is expected to be the last witness for the prosecution, which argued Penny’s chokehold became reckless when he held on too long, beyond the point when Neely represented any kind of threat to subway riders.

Jurors saw a video of Penny demonstrating the chokehold during an interview inside a police precinct.

“He had his back turned to me and I got him in a hold, got him to the ground, and he’s still squirming around and going crazy,” Penny is heard saying.

The defense is expected to shift the focus of the case from Penny to Neely, who had prior arrests, a history of mental illness and drugs in his system.

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