Soaking rain is an understatement for how much rain we picked up last night and through the day today. The last batch of rainfall reports that we received was around noon today and that had a few towns over 2″ And rain continued to fall (though much lighter) through the afternoon today.
Those reports line up pretty well with radar estimates that show the heaviest rainfall on the 95 corridor between Boston and Providence. Although everyone across the state had a soaking rain, picking up at least an inch for most of us.
In fact, we basically wiped out our rainfall deficit for the year with this one storm. Before today, the combined water deficit for January, February and March was about 2.5″. Most, if not all of that was erased today.
While it was a gray and soggy day, in terms of rainy days in New England it wasn’t bad. Temperatures were mild and the wind stayed in check, so we didn’t have a cold, wind-driven rain. And mild has been the theme of March. After our coldest winter in 10 years with December, January and February all featuring below average temperatures, March has been quite the opposite — not just above average, but quite a bit above average. For the first half of the month, we’re running about 4.5° above normal.
That trend will continue for the next couple of days (at least inland) with temperatures returning to the 50s. Both Tuesday and Wednesday will feature sea breezes, and thus keep temperatures on the coast locked in the 40s. But we’ll have a good amount of sun which always helps. After a cloudy start on Tuesday, clouds will decrease through the day and that sun will remain in full force through Wednesday.
