Temperatures recovered nicely thanks to the ample sun, but clouds are on the fast-track into New England as a storm comes together off of New Jersey.
Hasn’t formed yet, but the ingredients are there for quite a gale across all of New England and the Maritime Provinces. As always, there are issues, but it seems that based on the track, the worst of the storm will be across Northern New England. That said, it will still be nasty around here. Gusts could top 30mph along the coast, and although tides are NOT astronomically high for the month, we’re still watching the cycles.
First up, the timeline. Lighter showers tomorrow. Off and on through the morning, then mostly on by evening Tuesday night. As the storm intensifies late Wednesday and into Thursday, it will crank out the water across New England. I think it’s safe to say that this is the “height of the storm” since winds will also increase at that time. Gusts could approach – or even surpass – 30mph from the northeast.
So you want to crown it a nor’easter? Crown it. Coastal storm fits better for me, but I’m not going to go to war over it. To me, nor’easters are most notable for their wind/waves/coastal flooding whereas coastal/ocean storms flood us with rain.
Which brings us to the point of this discussion. Who drowns in the downpours? Right now that seems to be north of Massachusetts. Anything from North Conway to Portland, Maine where some early estimates from our weather models paint a bleak picture with 4-8 inches of rain! (See image to right.) Break out the snow maps…they may work better in a situation like this.
Farther south, we’re expecting 2-3 inches with some isolated spots from Portsmouth, NH to Keene possibly tipping the scale near 4. We give ourselves a wide berth when forecasting rain from these storms. It only takes a few intense rain bands to sweep in off the ocean in a short period (Wed. night to early Thursday) to tip the scales and initiate flooding. No doubt there will be some of these bands in the height of the storm, so we remain vigilant.
Let’s get this drought-busting storm underway. Stay with 7News.
Pete