It’s a decent start to our weekend! It will be dry with highs in the mid/upper 60s. We’ll see more clouds compared to the past couple of bright days. It’s great for any fall activities. Tomorrow we’ll start to feel the impacts from our inbound nor’easter. Those impacts include heavy rain, strong wind, minor coastal flooding and beach erosion. The peak of the event will be on Monday. Showers and breezy conditions linger into Tuesday.
Let’s talk about the setup. Low pressure has developed off the southeast coast. It’s associated with the rain showers you’re seeing on radar along the Carolina coast. Meanwhile, some energy near Canada and New York will merge with this area and help to strengthen our future storm. A strong pressure gradient sets up between the low and a Canadian high that will increase our northeast winds.
Take advantage of tomorrow morning. The moral of the weather story tomorrow: the farther north you are, the more dry hours you’ll get. We’ll wake up to a lot of clouds. We should start to see the northern fringes of the precipitation shield by noon for the South Coast, Cape and Islands. Some showers could develop near Boston by the evening. The heavier rain pushes north and fills in Sunday night into Monday morning. At this point, the gusty wind will pick up as well. Expect a wind-driven rain Monday morning. We’ll continue to get waves of rain, heavy at times Monday. Scattered showers linger, especially for the coast, Monday night into Tuesday. By Tuesday, the rain will not be as heavy.
Moving on to the wind component. It will be breezy tomorrow. Gusts pick up by Sunday night. Some of the strongest wind could peak Monday morning. I think gusts could be near 40 mph inland. You’ll want to take the time now through tomorrow evening to bring in your Halloween decorations and secure your boats in the marina.
The strongest wind will be for the Cape and Islands. There’s a Wind Advisory for the Cape where gusts could be up to 50 mph. A High Wind Watch is in place for the Islands where gusts could be up to 60 mph. Gusts in these ranges could lead to tree damage and power outages.
I think rainfall amounts will range from 1-3″ for a lot of us. There’s a signal that some towns in southeast Mass could pick up 4″+.
We’ll also watch for minor coastal flooding and beach erosion, especially for our east-facing beaches.
Stay with us this weekend for updates on the storm!
-Meteorologist Melanie Black