7 June, 2013
The National Weather Service in Taunton has provided the following forecast information concerning the potential impacts to Massachusetts of Tropical Storm Andrea that will move across, or near to Massachusetts tomorrow (Saturday). Graphics from the National Weather Service (Taunton) may be viewed at: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18185487/NWS%20Taunton%20June%207.pptx
The remnants of current Tropical Storm Andrea will track up the New England coast today into early Saturday. The biggest change to the forecast is we have increased rainfall totals some and expanded Gale Watches/Warnings for some of our Marine Waters. A Wind Advisory has also been issued for Nantucket.
Area of concern:
All of Southern New England.
Timing:
Showers increase in areal coverage and intensity this morning. Heavy rain develops this afternoon and especially tonight. The rain will come to an end Saturday morning.
Threats and Confidence:
There is high confidence in a widespread heavy rain event later today into early Saturday morning resulting in at least some urban and poor drainage street flooding. It’s also possible that some of our small rivers and streams experience some flooding. The axis of the heaviest rain will be along and northwest of I-95, especially into Connecticut and interior Massachusetts.
Precipitation Amounts:
Widespread 2 to 4 inches of rain are expected through early Saturday morning, with locally higher amounts of 5+ inch amounts possible. Some areas may see 2 to 3 inches of rain in just a 6 hour period tonight and the evening rush hour looks messy.
Secondary Concerns:
There is a moderate probability for a period of southerly wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph late tonight across far southeast MA, Cape Cod and the Islands. The highest confidence is across Nantucket where a wind advisory has already been issued. It’s possible that this wind advisory may need to be expanded further northwest this afternoon onto the Cape, Martha’s Vineyard, and perhaps a portion of Plymouth county.
Gale watches and warnings are in effect for our southern Coastal Waters. Highest Confidence in strongest winds are across the waters southeast of Nantucket. 10 to 15 foot seas are expected to develop across our southern Coastal Waters late tonight into Saturday morning.
There may be some isolated thunderstorms across Rhode Island and Southeast MA later tonight but any storms are expected to remain below severe limits.
Finally, a high surf advisory will likely be needed on Saturday behind the remnants of Andrea. This will also result in a high risk for dangerous rip currents.
For the latest forecasts and discussions, visit the National Weather Service’s website at: www.weather.gov/box .
