Storm Watch Weather Alert: Nor'easter Hitting Monday Night-Tuesday
BOSTON (CBS) – The WBZ Weather Center has issued its STORM WATCH WEATHER ALERT due to a powerful nor'easter arriving Monday evening and lasting into Tuesday morning.
While most of Monday will simply be an ugly day with drizzle, some light icing for the interior, and a cold breeze - a strong storm will swing in by evening. There will be several hours of moderate to heavy rain producing some street and urban flooding, gales and storm force winds enhancing tides to create some coastal flooding and a kitchen sink of wintry mix along and northwest of I-495. Since it's a combination of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain - accumulations will be held down. But the mix will provide plenty of nasty travel Monday night into Tuesday morning for those interior locations.
Storm Timing:
Most of the day is just ugly to start the week, with only light showers/mist and a bit of icy glaze across the interior. The main issue for the daytime will be icy areas along and northwest of 495 during the morning commute, so extra caution is advised. A touch of freezing rain and light snow, though light, can still make for some very slick conditions. Otherwise, treated surfaces should be in good shape during the majority of the day.
The heaviest precipitation will fall overnight and into early Tuesday morning. The blue and pink shading indicates where snow and some mixing with or changing to sleet is most likely. The wind will become more powerful and peak midnight through early Tuesday morning, creating the potential for power outages as branches, limbs, and whole trees come down! The higher elevations from northwestern Worcester County west to the Berkshires and north into the Monadnock Region could receive a few inches of wet pasty snow along with sleet and a glaze of freezing rain. It should be a very difficult night for travel, and those effects could linger into Tuesday morning as well.
Tides will be astronomically low, thankfully. However, due to the long fetch and long duration of onshore winds of 30-50 mph with gusts up to 70 mph, there will be a storm surge of 2-3 feet, which, added to the scheduled height, will yield tides of near 11 feet Monday evening and 11-12 feet Tuesday morning.
This will cause mainly minor coastal flooding at both tide times. Additionally, seas will build up to 20-25 feet offshore, with big waves of 10 feet or more battering the beaches and producing erosion.
Wind Threat:
The strong winds and rough seas mean a dangerous storm for mariners. A storm warning has been issued Monday morning to Tuesday morning for 15-25 foot wave heights and gusts up to 70 mph.
A high wind warning has been posted for Cape Cod and the Islands 9 AM Monday to 6 AM Tuesday. The east-northeast wind will be sustained between 30 and 50 mph, gusts to 70 mph.
Flooding Rain:
An Areal Flood Watch has been issued for eastern Massachusetts 1 p.m. Monday to 10 a.m. Tuesday. Rainfall amounts may reach between 1.5 and 3 inches across much of the area during that time. Street, urban, and small-stream flooding will be possible.
Precipitation type/totals:
Heavy rain across Cape Ann, Boston, and southeastern Massachusetts with 1-3" of total rainfall. Sufficient colder air draining down from eastern Canada and northern New England will result in a brief mix to rain between 495 and 128. Farther north and west, snow and sleet mix depending on elevation, in the Worcester Hills, southern New Hampshire and the Berkshires. A sharp cutoff in snow/sleet totals from northwest to southeast towards the rain/snow line. Could see as much as 3-6" of accumulation in the more elevated terrain.
Winter Weather:
A winter weather advisory is in effect from 4 p.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday for the Berkshires, Worcester Hills and northwest Hartford County.
Freezing rain, sleet and snow can be expected. A couple inches of snow and up to 0.5" of ice may accumulated. There could be enough icing on branches and power lines, that scattered outages an damage could occur.
A winter storm watch is in effect from Monday evening to Tuesday afternoon for heavier snow accumulation, sleet and freezing rain. Could see around 6" of snow with 0.1" of ice.
If the track or timing of this storm is off a bit, that can have a major impact on the coastal flooding and where the rain/snow line falls.
Stay tuned to WBZ for further details and updates.