BOSTON (WHDH) - A winter storm watch has been issued ahead of nor’easter that could bring heavy snow, strong wind gusts, coastal flooding, and blizzard conditions to parts of Massachusetts this weekend.
The watch will take effect late Friday night and remain in place through Saturday night for parts of Barnstable, Dukes, Essex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Bristol, Middlesex, and Suffolk counties.
The winter storm is expected to intensify as it moves up the East Coast Friday night into Saturday.
“It’s the type of storm that has the potential to produce a foot or more of snow,” 7NEWS Chief Meteorologist Jeremy Reiner said. “It does look like it’s going to be a highly disruptive storm through the day on Saturday.”
The highest risk for a foot or more of snow is across Eastern Massachusetts, where total snow accumulations of 8 to 16 inches is possible.
The exact track of the storm will ultimately dictate which communities get the most snow and the axis of the heaviest snowfall may shift with later forecasts.
“There’s no doubt that an area of low pressure that develops off the mid-Atlantic and New England coast becomes a powerhouse ocean storm,” 7NEWS Meteorologist Chris Lambert wrote in his latest weather blog. “It’s likely that it bombs out (bombogenesis) as the pressure will drop more than 24mb in 24hrs. What’s more of a challenge is to pin down the exact positioning of the low 3 days out. That exact positioning of that low will determine who gets the most snow and how much falls.”
Winds are also slated to ramp up midday Saturday with more than 50 mph gusts expected at the coast and 60 to 70 mph gusts possible across Cape Cod and Nantucket.
“Very strong winds will develop and that could lead to a potential blizzard across the area,” 7NEWS Meteorologist Josh Wurster said.
Beach erosion and minor to moderate coastal flooding are possible during high tide at 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Saturday.
Travel could be very difficult to impossible and strong winds could cause tree damage, the National Weather Service warned.
Frigid temperatures and subzero wind chills are expected Wednesday and Thursday.
Visit the 7Weather page for the latest storm updates.
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