Torrential rain developing late last night has persisted overnight and will hold until 7am this morning. As of this writing (5am) most towns have picked up 2-4″ of rain with a few towns over 5″. And it’s still raining, and raining hard in some spots. Flash flood warnings are in effect across the entire state.
There are several reports of flooded and impassible roads across the area. From the Bourne Rotary to Storrow Drive in Boston and several towns in between. Please be careful this morning and NEVER CROSS FLOOD WATERS. That means in a car or just by walking. Water is very powerful and it doesn’t take much to sweep a person off of their feet or move a car.
We’ll continue to add to the rain totals until about 7 or 8am for most and start to dry out this afternoon. Below are time stamps from 6am (still raining) and 2pm (reduced to an isolated light shower).
While the rain ends this morning, the threat for flooding does not. Of course it takes time for water ways to catch up. The flash flood watch continues through the afternoon. The flash flood watch accounts for rapid rises in creeks and streams and of course roadways. Even as that ends, the water has to go somewhere, and it will go to the rivers. Several rivers across the area are forecast to head to at least minor flood stage later today and Friday morning as the water continues to run off. The Blackstone River seems to be of most concern with the forecast taking it to moderate flood stage.
We’ve been on the air since 11:00 last night covering tornado warnings as well. As is typical with tropical systems, spin up tornadoes are likely and we saw that again today. We had those spin ups with the remnants of Fred, Henri, and now Ida. There is a tornado watch in effect for the Cape and the Islands until 7am where we have seen several signs of rotation overnight, and the potential remains for a couple more hours. Winds will also get gusty on the coastline today which does have the potential to bring down trees. Gusts could top 40 mph and with saturated ground, uprooted trees can be expected. Which in turn could lead to damage if the tree falls in the wrong direction or power outages if it would take down a power line.
Things will be much improved by this afternoon as Ida continues to pull out to sea, but there will be lingering high water for the rest of the day. Friday looks much drier, with a rogue sprinkle or shower possible, but we’ll finally be able to dry things out after a good soaking last night and this morning.