Nor’easter season is upon us, and we have our first storm of the season already gathering strength across the mid-Atlantic.
The storm will remain well offshore, but will be powerful and large enough to bring wind, rain and coastal issues to New England Wednesday through possibly Saturday morning. The peak of the storm will be Thursday and Friday, and that is when we have First Alert days issued.
We have another day before the height of the storm brings in heavy rain and gusty wind. Tuesday night our lows range from the 30s in northern New England to the 50s south with more clouds farther south. A few showers slowly move in from the south late tonight, and will be spotty for Wednesday. Clouds continue to dominate the forecast for southern New England as highs will only reach the upper 50s to low 60s with an increasing northeast wind. Gusts between 25 and 35 mph. Temperatures will stay in the 50s through Saturday.
Thursday into Friday, our low will continue to deepen and stall south of the benchmark. A strong high pressure centers itself north, so we are wedged in between and will see strong northeast winds even with the northern edge of this storm. Waves of rain will pivot in from the southeast Thursday into Friday, with the highest rainfall accumulations expected southeast and across the Cape and islands.
We are still uncertain on how far northwest the rain bands will stretch. So forecast models have a wide range of possibilities for totals. About 3 to 6 inches is not out of the question through Saturday morning for Rhode Island to southeastern Mass. This may lead to some localized flooding and lots of standing water.
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Wind will pick up Wednesday night, and will stay persistent through Friday night from the northeast. Gusts may reach 40 to 50 mph along the coast, with 30 to 40 mph gusts farther inland. This may lead to leaf drop, pockets of damage and some power outages.
Beach erosion is likely along with splash-over. Minor coastal flooding is possible too as seas build to around 20 feet offshore, even with lower astronomical tides. Multiple tide cycles will be affected, so stay tuned to any coastal flood warnings or watches.
Saturday looks to stay wet and windy as the nor’easter slowly pulls away. Our weather improves by Sunday with some sun and temperatures in the low 60s.
We have a break from rain until Tuesday and Wednesday next week with a very October-ish 10-day as highs stay in the low 60s.
