It’s nowhere near the Blizzard of ’97, but this April nor’easter still may have a few tricks up its sleeve.
We’ll see the light rain break out Tuesday night and carry into Wednesday morning. Initially, that’s our on and only issue.
As the storm intensifies Wednesday afternoon, the winds will pick up along the coast, and the precipitation will come down a little harder. It’s during Wednesday night and early Thursday that things get really “interesting.”
This is when the storm will have peak intensity and the temperatures dip down to the low 30s into the Worcester Hills and across southern New Hampshire.
Rain could mix with and change to snow in these spots, while the rain intensity picks up elsewhere. Gusts along the coast will increase as well. We could see some top 45 to 50 miles per hour from Cape Ann to Cape Cod and the Islands.
All the while, the water will pile up along the coast thanks to the slow movement of the storm and the “fetch” (winds traveling a long distance over the ocean). Although our storm isn’t hitting during the high astronomical tides of the month, the storm surge of 2 to 3 feet could make up the difference and give us some minor to moderate coastal flooding.
The storm begins to weaken by Thursday afternoon, although our best chance at accumulating snow will be long done by then. Greatest accumulations will be across northern Worcester County and throughout southern New Hampshire. Most of northern New England will see even more than that, with isolated spots over a foot!
The storm sits offshore through Friday, but it will be unraveling the whole time. Showers could pepper us into Friday night, but the winds will be lighter and the threat for accumulating snow will diminish.
We’re still bullish on the post-storm warmup, and the brighter weather for the eclipse! Ready those solar glasses.
