[Weather] Strong storm system late Thursday night into Friday night

Wed Dec 19 22:49:14 UTC 2018

Hi everyone,

Here is the latest information for the upcoming storm.

1) A Flood Watch has been issued for all of southern New England from late
Thursday night through late Friday night.  Rain starts late Thursday night
but the heaviest rain  will occur during the day Friday and into Friday
night.  We are expecting a widespread 2 to 3 inches of rain except 1 to 2
inches on Cape Cod and the islands. There could be up to 4 inches in
portions of western MA, northern CT, and western RI.  Currently 1 to 2
inches is forecast for Cape Cod and the Islands.  Urban and poor drainage
flooding is expected. Small streams and creeks could also flood.  There is
a possibility that a few main stem rivers could rise to minor to perhaps
moderate levels.

2) A High Wind Watch has been issued for Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's
Vineyard, and Block Island from Friday morning through Friday evening.
Southeast to south winds of 25-35 mph are forecast with gusts to 50 mph.
However, the potential exists for gusts up to 60 mph.  The latest
indications are that the strongest winds may occur a bit later, perhaps in
the late afternoon through midnight Friday night.  Wind Advisories will
likely be needed farther inland into the coastal plain and possibly atop
higher elevation locations.

3) Gale Watches have been upgraded to Gale Warnings for all coastal waters
from early Friday morning through much of Friday night for wind gusts to 45
knots.

4) Coastal Flooding:  The south coast continues to be the main focus for
possible minor coastal flooding on Friday, although with astronomically
high tides we may also see at least some splashover but possibly minor
coastal flooding along the eastern MA coast, too.  A surge of up to 2 feet
is expected.  We could see minor coastal flood impacts along the south
coast from Narragansett Bay to Buzzards Bay -- possibly along the rest of
the south coast due to wave action. With only 1 foot of surge, the more
vulnerable locations on the Massachusetts east coast, like Morrissey Blvd.,
could be flooded during the Friday and Saturday morning high tides.

5) Severe weather potential:  A few thunderstorms are possible in RI and
southeastern MA.  Conditions will be quite anomalous with 60-80 knots of
wind just a few thousand feet off the surface, with record high dewpoints
near 60 degrees and actual temperatures reaching the lower 60s in those
areas.  Certain other parameters are in place to make us concerned for the
possibility of an isolated waterspout or tornado in RI or southeast MA. It
is a quite low probability but if it were to occur, the most likely time
would be Friday afternoon.

The greatest uncertainties with this event are:
* timing of heaviest rain and strongest winds
* location of heaviest rain

This event is still more than 30-36 hours away, so stay tuned for any
further updates.

-- Glenn Field
   Warning Coordination Meteorologist
   NWS - 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>
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