A major late-winter Nor’easter is slated to come close enough to Southern New England to bring nearly two days of snow, rain, strong winds, and coastal flooding from late Wednesday into Friday. The storm will slowly move from the Mid-Atlantic to south of Nantucket between Wednesday and Friday. The largest impacts in Southern New England will vary greatly depending on where you live.
Coast – Heavy rain, strong winds and coastal flooding
Near the coast, the precipitation is likely to be mainly rain, but there will be powerful winds (25+ mph sustained, 45+ mph gusts) for at least 36 hours, and the threat of coastal flooding and beach erosion during several high tide cycles.
I-95 corridor – Heavy rain, some snow, strong winds, river/stream flooding
The precipitation-type in the I-95 corridor including Providence and Boston is quite uncertain, but our forecast favors more rain than snow. If it is snow, the odds of it accumulating are much greater at night than during the day because of high sun angle and daytime temperatures that are expected to be in the 30s. Our accumulation map will be released Tuesday morning, and, right now, we are not projecting the big snow totals in the I-95 corridor, but just 25 miles to the northwest, the snow totals increase dramatically. The wind will not be quite as high in the I-95 corridor as it will be near the coast. Sustained winds over 20 mph, with gusts over 35 mph are likely for about 36 hours from late Wednesday into Friday morning. There may be some street, river, and stream flooding due to the potential for 2-3″ of rain in 36 hours. The ground is already saturated after a snowy and wet February, and the last rainstorm produced minor river flooding and some wet basements.
Inland – Heavy wet, snow, gusty wind, power outages
Farther inland, there is high potential for a significant heavy, wet snow event. From interior CT to NW RI and Worcester County the potential exists for a foot or more of heavy, wet snow. The wind will be gusty enough when combined with the heavy, wet snow to lead to some downed trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are possible if the storm delivers on its full wind/snow potential in Southern New England.
