Weekend Nor'easter To Bring High Winds, Wet Snowflakes
BOSTON (CBS) -- Still hanging on to memories of that terrific summer and early fall weather? Seems like just yesterday you were at the beach, on the back deck, cooking on the barbeque, out on the boat, doesn't it? If last week's Nor'easter didn't shock your system, I can guarantee that this weekend will. It's going to be hard to find any remnants of summer after our second Nor'easter in less than two weeks blasts through New England in the next 48 hours.
That beautiful fall foliage that lit up the countryside over the last month -- soon to be gone. Any leaves that may have survived the winds last week will likely be ripped from their branches this weekend (into your backyard). It is going to look like winter around here real soon.
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And if that wasn't enough bad news, just as our Nor'easter is winding down on Sunday, the sun will be setting at 4:36 p.m.! The end of Daylight Saving Time, officially at 2 a.m. on Sunday, means a lot of commuters will be driving home in the dark on Monday for the first time in a long time.
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Let's get to the stormy details…
RAINFALL
Some light showers and drizzle will arrive as early as Saturday morning, especially along the coastline. The rain will become more widespread and heavier by Saturday afternoon and evening, again mainly in Eastern Massachusetts. I expect, on average, about half-an-inch to an inch of rain from this event. . . less in Worcester County and points westward. . . more on Cape Cod, up to 2 inches. Not enough for any widespread flooding concerns.
WIND
Much like our last Nor'easter, the wind is by far the primary concern with this event. With lots of leaves still on the trees, strong winds will be more apt to bring down limbs, trees and power lines. On Saturday, the winds will be out of the northeast (hence the term Nor'easter). We will see a gradual increase in the intensity of the winds during the day, by evening there will be frequent gusts between 20-40 mph, again, most frequent and strongest at the coastline. Overnight and into Sunday morning the winds will become more northerly and really ramp up. There will be gusts to 60 mph over Cape Cod and the Islands, and to 50 mph along the immediate coastline. I would anticipate some scattered power outages and lots of downed limbs and some trees. The winds will stay busy all day Sunday, only slowly decreasing to an average of 15-35 mph by afternoon and evening.
COASTLINE
Yet another blow for our coastline. The last few years have been particularly unkind to our disappearing beaches. Thankfully the tides are not that astronomically high, however there will be some minor to pockets of moderate coastal flooding during the Saturday evening high tide (around 7 p.m.) and the Sunday morning high tide (around 6:30 a.m.). I would expect many of the typically vulnerable shore roads to have flooding issues. Seas just offshore could be as high as 15-20 feet with wave action between 5 and 10 feet at the beaches.
SNOWFALL
If this storm were coming a month or two later, look out, but thankfully, the ground and ocean are still relatively warm, so there are no snow concerns in Southern New England. There is a slight chance that as temperatures drop off a bit Saturday night that there could be some wet snowflakes mixing in with the rain as it tapers off in the higher elevations. The greatest snow threat for this event will be up in Maine, where there may still be some heavy precipitation falling when temperatures drop Saturday night. Several inches of snow are likely in parts of northeast Maine, away from the immediate coastline. A foot or more of snow is not out of the question during Sunday morning, well north and east of Portland.
Looking for a silver lining? In typical New England fashion, another big swing in temperatures is in the forecast for next week. Highs should reach or top 60 degrees by Tuesday and Wednesday.
Follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ
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