Good afternoon, Below you will find the latest details as to the hazards posed with a coastal storm clipping eastern New England overnight into Wednesday morning, and tinder-dry conditions along with blustery westerly winds for Wednesday posing an elevated fire weather risk. Attached are forecast images, including worst-case, with respect to hazards associated with the coastal storm. Should you have any questions, comments and/or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. - *Strong coastal storm clipping eastern New England*. - A strong coast storm will clip eastern New England overnight into into Wednesday morning with associated hazards noted below. - *Strong to damaging winds ... * - North-Northeast winds increasing towards Wednesday morning, the strongest clipping southeast New England with gusts up as high as 50 mph, especially for Nantucket. - Becoming westerly midday Wednesday and continuing overnight, gusts over much of Southern New England will be up as high as 55 mph, especially across the high terrain of Massachusetts. - WIND ADVISORIES posted for Nantucket (4 am to 1 pm Wednesday) and all of Massachusetts except the southeast, Cape and Martha's Vineyard (2 pm to 9 pm Wednesday). - *Locally heavy rain ...* - Especially for the Cape and Islands, rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches are forecast. Worst case scenario, rainfall amounts could exceed 3 inches coming close to 3.5 inches. - Higher confidence for the threat of poor drainage flooding for the Cape and Islands, however should worse-case rainfall amounts occur, there is a threat to Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts. - *Wet snow ... * - We expect wet snow to develop around midnight and continue into the early morning hours on Wednesday over a good chunk of southern New England that includes northern CT, northern RI, central and eastern MA. - Greatest accumulations are likely over the higher elevations in and around the Worcester-metro area and points northward towards the border - WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES posted for Worcester and northern Middlesex County MA for around 2 to 3 inches of snow (1 am to 8 am Wednesday). - Worst-case scenario of 4 to 5 inch amounts. - Most of the snow is likely to melt and disappear by 10 am. - *Gale force winds ...* - A period of northeasterly gale force winds are forecast to develop shortly after midnight Wednesday continuing into Wednesday morning. - As the coastal storm passes around midday, will see westerly gales develop that will continue into Wednesday evening. - GALE WARNINGS posted for all waters (2 am to 8 pm Wednesday). - Maximum wave heights of 12 to 15 feet are forecast, the height of which will occur late Wednesday into Wednesday evening. - There are no coastal flooding concerns. - *Fire Weather concerns for Western New England*. - An elevated fire risk will be in place for Wednesday for areas of Massachusetts within and west of the Connecticut and Pioneer River Valleys. - Altogether, there is little to no snowpack, as well as forecast precipitation associated with a coastal storm impacting the eastern half of New England for the aforementioned region. - Forecast midday to afternoon relative humidity will be as low as 25 to 30 percent as strong, dry westerly winds are expected to be sustained around 20 mph with gusts around 35 to 45 mph. - The main concern is for areas of grass, shrub and dried leaf litter fuel types which could yield dangerous fire behavior with the predicted dry and windy conditions. Respectfully, Benjamin Sipprell Meteorologist NWS Boston / Norton If you have any questions or would like more information, don't hesitate to contact us via this email address, on NWSChat <https://nwschat.weather.gov/>, or at the following: National Weather Service Boston/Norton, MA 46 Commerce Way Norton, MA 02766 508.622.3280 Website <http://www.weather.gov/boston> | Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/NWSBoston> | Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/NWSBoston>
