I’ve been asked more than a few times “what do we call this thing?!?” It seems we are all a bit confused on this one. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) calls it “post-tropical cyclone Hermine.” Feel free to just call it Hermine for short. The system lost its tropical characteristics Saturday morning so it’s no longer a tropical storm or a hurricane, but it gets to keep the name “Hermine.” Think of it as a nor’easter with better PR.
That does NOT mean it is any less dangerous. In fact, Hermine may strengthen and once again produce winds that are as strong as that of a hurricane, even though it won’t technically be classified as a hurricane. In that sense, it has the same identity crisis that Sandy had as I described yesterday. But one key difference between Hermine and Sandy that I should point out…Hermine will NOT make landfall anywhere in the northeastern US. That is the center of Hermine will not cross the coastline in the US again. Hermine is primarily an ocean storm.
So, our primary concerns are for those near or on the ocean. Clouds will increase late on Sunday but the bulk of the day will be sunny and pleasant. If you decide to hit the beach, enjoy it, but swim near a lifeguard. Rough surf and dangerous rip currents are expected, especially after 3 pm. Side note…its rip currents NOT rip tides; you can read more on that here and here and here (sorry, pet peeve).
(Rip Current graphic courtesy of the National Weather Service)
High tide Sunday night/Monday morning (between about 2 and 3 AM) will be about 1-2 ft higher than normal for most of the MA coastline thanks to Hermine. For the RI South Coast it will be about 2-3 ft higher than normal. That’s just enough for some very minor beach erosion and possibly some splash over.
Waves in the surf will build to as high as 6-9 feet by Monday at many of the area beaches. That has prompted a High Surf Advisory for the New Hampshire Seacoast. In MA, the South Coast, the Cape and the Islands are already under a Tropical Storm Watch. So just stay out of the water altogether on Monday.
The NHC sums up the problem this way “the slow motion and large wind field associated with Hermine will result in a long duration of hazardous conditions along much of the mid-Atlantic coast extending into southern New England through the holiday weekend and into midweek.” And the advice from the National Weather Service office in the Boston area is “keep a safe distance from the turbulent ocean today through at least Tuesday.”
There remains uncertainty as to when exactly Hermine will get out of here, so there might be some adjustments to the forecast for Wednesday and beyond. Either way, once the clouds do finally clear, and the onshore winds turn more to the southwest, expect it to get hot. The 90’s could make a comeback by the end of the week!