Despite the pleasant start this morning to the weekend, our weather goes downhill as a soaking rain and a slow moving storm plague the area through Monday.
Sunshine this morning fades by early afternoon as clouds increase. High temps do reach the low to mid 50s away from the coast, allowing for a pleasant several hour stretch this morning, through midday. It’ll turn cool at the coast this afternoon as onshore breezes develop and increase in strength. The time frame to watch for showers to develop is generally from 2-4PM on average. They’ll develop from south to north, so likely seeing them as early as 1-2PM for Buzzards Bay/Cape/Islands and as late as 4-5PM for the Merrimack Valley and southern New Hampshire.
Those showers turn into downpours tonight, and at times, it’ll certainly come down in buckets at times. Rain continues to be heavy at times into Sunday morning before the core of the soaking rains shift offshore. While the intensity of the rain slackens by mid to late morning, a cool, raw, and unsettled pattern continues with leftover drizzle and light showers hanging in. Highs on Sunday range from the 30s northwest of Boston, to near 40 in the city to the low to mid 50s across southern Plymouth/Bristol counties as well as the Cape and Islands. Even those 50s are fleeting. As winds turn more north, the colder air drives south.
Winds start picking up Sunday afternoon too, gusting 30-40mph from the north to northeast along the coast. That continues Sunday night and Monday as well as the area of low pressure slowly wobbles off our coast. Tides are astronomically on the higher side, and with the storm turning up the surf, any additional storm surge will produce minor coastal flooding and beach erosion Sunday and Monday. The highest chance to see that will be the north to northeast facing beaches.
Monday also features more damp weather for all of us with occasional showers/drizzle and even some wet snow mixed in across the higher terrain of northern Worcester County.
By the time it’s all said and done, 1-3″ of rain is widespread (heaviest tonight/early Sunday) across the area, which has prompted the National Weather Service to issue a flood watch. We’ll keep an eye on urban/poor drainage areas for potential flooding with heavy rain overnight, and an eye on small rivers and streams Sunday and Monday in areas that approach that 3″ mark.
Of course we’ll keep you updated on air and online this weekend, including through twitter – @clamberton7