Massachusetts

Nor'easter to Bring Rain, Snow, and Major Coastal Flooding to New England

A major nor'easter is set to hit the region starting overnight, and will last until Saturday morning, bringing rain, snow, high wind gusts and the potential for major flooding in coastal communities.

Our final day of quiet weather has proven to be a spectacular one, with high temperatures reaching near 60 degrees in southern New England and sunshine only slowly fading behind increasing clouds. Colder air is slowly sinking southward through northern New England, and the approach of energy and moisture from the west pretends a major storm in the making.

Rain will begin around 7 or 8 p.m. in the Connecticut suburbs of New York City, and closer to midnight from Worcester to Boston, but by Friday morning rain will be falling for the commute in all of central and southern New England.

In the higher terrain of the Berkshires, southern Green Mountains and Monadnock Region, snow may very well begin the day, and in the hills of western New England, that heavy, wet snow will fall all day, eventually dropping south into the Connecticut hills.

While most of the remainder of New England rains heavily with either side of two inches of rain for localized flooding of streets during both commutes, streams and perhaps a few rivers, we’ll also see a northeast wind increasing during the afternoon and evening, with gusts eventually 40+ mph for many and 60+ mph at the coast — sufficient for scattered power outages.

Moderate to major coastal flooding is possible at the 11 a.m. Friday high tide, and major coastal flooding is probable midnight Friday night and midday Saturday, posing a risk to life and property in vulnerable areas — follow all evacuation suggestions.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is activating 200 National Guard members ahead of the nor'easter, and the U.S. Coast Guard is urging boaters to use "vigilance and extreme caution" with this storm.

Elsewhere, the snow line will drop into central Massachusetts Friday late day and evening, and even through the remainder of southern New England overnight Friday before precipitation tapers by early Saturday morning, leaving clouds and light snow/rain for some Saturday, with clouds and cool air again Sunday with some spitting rain and snow in eastern areas.

Our next storm shows up in the exclusive Early Warning Weather 10-day for the middle of next week.

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