Tracking a powerhouse storm tonight working up from the mid-Atlantic and into southern New England. The storm will just enough cold air well inland but for locations closer to the coast (metro Boston) this a cold, wind-driven rain. Storm details:
* Arrive mid-late evening with the brunt of the storm from 11pm-7am Tuesday morning.
* Rain–1-3″–for locations along the I-95 corridor from Portsmouth-Boston-Providence
* Between Rt 128 & I-495 it will be in the form of sleet, snow & rain. This will limit snow & sleet accumulations (coating-1″) with most of that being washed away once the rain takes over after 2am.
* Outside I-495, plan on several hours of sleet & snow with some freezing rain by the end of the storm early tomorrow morning. Due to several hours of snow & sleet, 1-3″ of that sloppy mess is likely by late tonight.
* Wind: A real concern along the coast, with gusts between 45-60 mph (a few wind gusts over 60 mph are likely on Cape Ann as well as mid-outer Cape Cod). Metro Boston should plan on wind gusts over 40 mph overnight & into early tomorrow morning. Wind with subside for everyone after 9am Tuesday morning.
Coastal Flooding: thankfully, this storm catches the tide cycle at a low spot so while there will be a lot of wind hammerning the coastline (ie beach erosion) only minor coastal flooding is anticipated at the 9am high tide Tuesday morning. A few pockets of moderate coastal flooding are possible in Gloucester..Newburyport..Scituate. That could lead to some shore road closures for a few hours early tomorrow morning.
It is a beast of a storm with marginal cold air…had it been colder, this would be a storm producing 1-3 feet of snow! Instead, it’s a soaker.
Sunshine returns by Wednesday. More on the storm on TV!
~JR