We start off on the colder side today with temperatures in the upper 20s to lower 30s, under mostly clear skies. It will be quiet with a mix of sun and clouds throughout the day with temperatures climbing into the mid-40s. An added bonus, is that sunset doesn’t happen until 6:46 p.m. (due to Daylight Saving Time).
Similar to Sunday, Monday remains mostly quiet but clouds roll in by the early evening as the leading edge of our next storm system arrives. Just as many residents are getting back to normalcy after the last two nor’easters that battered New England’s coast, which brought heavy, wet snow farther inland, another one is coming. The brief break today and Monday will end as the next nor’easter moves in by Monday evening into Tuesday. This will be the third nor’easter of March and it’s setting its sights on the waters of New England for late Monday and early Tuesday. Thankfully, the timing of this third nor’easter is not paired with the astronomical high tides that brought historic level flooding to parts of the North and South Shore.
This time, however, the main concern will be where the rain/snow line meets up and the actual track of the storm. Depending on that final track, some of the latest models predict the system coming closer to the coast. If this happens, that would mean heavy, wet, plowable snow for most of southern New England, including the Cape & Islands. However, if the track is farther out to sea, that would give less snow amounts and more mixing of rain/snow at the immediate coast. Either way, we’ll still be dealing with snow showers into Wednesday afternoon across northern New England.
Thankfully, coastal flooding risks are lower since this next nor’easter is not matching up with the astronomical high tides - but onshore wind may lead to additional coastal erosion.
The end of the work week turns much more tranquil as the system exits and a big ridge sets up over the entire eastern seaboard, giving us a brief warm-up for St. Patrick’s Day weekend with highs near 50. We could see a few rain showers, but at this point, the festive holiday weekend does not look to be a washout.
