I know many were dreaming of a white Christmas after last week’s snowstorm, but we’re tracking a potent storm that will bring heavy rain and strong wind gusts to the area for Christmas Day.
Today, it’s the calm before the storm, under mostly cloudy skies and highs into the 50s, which will certainly help in melting the snowpack.
With the calm before the storm, today is the day to not only get any of your last minute holiday shopping done, but also to be sure you are prepared.
The heavy rain and continued warmth through the overnight and into tomorrow morning will continue to melt the snow leading to flooding, especially if storm drains are not cleared of the snow and ice.
A Flood Watch has been issued through Christmas Day due to 2-3″ of rainfall that is expected on top of the melting snow.
Not only are we tracking the heavy rain, but we’re also tracking strong wind gusts that could lead to power outages, which is not ideal for those celebrating on Christmas morning.
A High Wind Warning is in effect from midnight tonight through noon Friday for gusts up to 65 MPH. This is for most of eastern MA, including SE MA and the Cape and Islands. A Wind Advisory for gusts up to 55 MPH includes northern Worcester Co. and northwestern Middlesex Co.
The wind gusts weaken from west to east through the afternoon, but the rain will linger through the early evening.
The cold front swings from west to east, pushing out any remaining rain, wind and warmth out of here by the evening hours. Temperatures go from 60s in the morning to 40s by the evening.
Behind the front, colder air trickles in, ushering in a much more seasonable weekend (the last weekend of 2020), with highs into the mid to upper 30s. The weekend is also dry under mostly sunny skies.
Our next system moves in late Monday night into early Tuesday that could bring some snow showers to the region, so we will continue to keep an eye on that as we get closer.
