Nor'easter To Bring Snow, Rain, Damaging Wind And Flooding
BOSTON (CBS) - Our Nor'easter is on the way. The rain and snow showers Monday morning are not the main event, but are a result of some low level moisture coming in off the ocean. There have been some coatings here and there, mainly north and west of Boston and some reduced visibility in spots too. These bursts of rain and snow will continue at times through the afternoon.
The brunt of the storm arrives this evening and lasts into tomorrow.
This storm is the same one that was responsible for the deadly severe weather in the southeastern U.S. this weekend and while I'm not anticipating severe weather here at home, it's a testament to the amount of moisture and energy with this disturbance.
Let's get down to the nitty-gritty.
SNOW AND ICE
A mix of snow, sleet and some freezing rain is expected across western and central Massachusetts as the steadier precipitation arrives this evening.
In general, 1-to-3 inches of wintry mix in these areas is likely, along with a trace of ice. Slippery travel will result this evening and overnight. I wouldn't even be surprised if early tomorrow morning we're still dealing with treacherous travel conditions in north central Worcester County where it takes longest to make the transition over to rain.
Much of Vermont, western and central New Hampshire and western and northern Maine will end up with 3-to-6 inches or more of snow from this event.
RAIN
It is going to absolutely pour tonight into tomorrow morning.
A widespread 1.5-to-3 inches of rain will fall, with some locally higher amounts. This will put a minor dent in our precipitation deficit and drought conditions.
The issue is that the rain is going to fall at such a fast rate for a period of time tonight and early tomorrow morning that localized urban, street and small steam flooding will result.
The rain will gradually taper in intensity and coverage tomorrow afternoon and evening.
WIND
The wind will continue to ramp up today, gusting to 45 mph by this evening and 50 mph overnight into early tomorrow morning.
The exception (not the good kind) will be at the coast of eastern Mass. From Cape Ann to the South Shore and Cape Cod, wind gusts will top out 55-to-65 mph from the east-northeast. Scattered pockets of damage and outages will result. While it will still be windy much of the day tomorrow, gusts will drop below damaging thresholds by mid-morning.
COASTAL FLOODING
The strong onshore wind will build our seas 15-to-25 feet off of our coastline.
The water will pile up at the coast, causing significant beach erosion and minor coastal flooding up and down our shoreline this evening with a 2-foot surge. More widespread minor flooding is likely either side of tomorrow morning's high tide, with some pockets of moderate flooding possible in a few communities (the greatest risk would be from Newburyport to Scituate, Nantucket Harbor and Gloucester). In other words, if you live at the coastline, you know the drill. The most vulnerable shore roads will close and some basements may flood.
WEEK AHEAD
The remainder of the week looks fairly quiet and unseasonably mild with highs nearing 50 on Wednesday and Thursday.
Cooler air starts to come back on Friday and this upcoming weekend but even this will be above average for this time of year. As of right now, there are no significant storms in the forecast for next week.
Stay tuned to WBZ-TV, WBZ NewsRadio 1030 and CBS Boston.com for the latest on the forecast. We'll have team coverage tonight and tomorrow morning.