Predicted Nor’easter sputters, will move through today

A Nor’easter that was expected to drench parts of southeastern Massachusetts, the Cape and the islands with as much as six inches of rain through Friday has so far spared most of those areas from what was originally forecast.

“The center of the storm is farther south than we originally forecast,” Eleanor Vallier-Talbot, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said Thursday. “But there’s going to be another surge of stronger wind and rain on the Cape and Islands late tonight around high tide. It looks like the worst of it will be late tonight into tomorrow morning.”

No ferries were running yesterday between the Cape and the Islands, which could see as much as 3/4 of an inch to 1 1/2 inches of rain by Friday morning, Vallier-Talbot said, while the Boston area will likely see up to 1/4 inch.

A coastal flood advisory anticipating minor flooding around high tide remained in effect for the Cape, up to Plymouth and south of Boston, she said, and a coastal flood warning with the potential for minor to moderate flooding remained in effect for Nantucket.

The National Weather Service also issued a wind advisory for coastal Plymouth County, forecasting gusts of up to 45 mph, Vallier-Talbot said.

Scituate Fire Chief John Murphy said the storm had brought “wind, rain and very angry seas,” with the possibility of minor flooding around Thursday night’s and Friday morning’s high tides.

“Overall, we’re very fortunate,” Murphy said.

Chris Besse, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said there were scattered power outages in southeastern Massachusetts Thursday, with a peak of 2,000 customers without electricity at one point, but no communities requested help from the agency.

“So far, there has not been any significant damage,” Besse said. “It could be a lot worse.”

By late Thursday afternoon, Duxbury Fire Capt. T.J. Hussey said, his department had had no trees downing wires.

“The storm is kind of missing us,” Hussey said.

Cool and breezy weather along with periods of light rain are expected to linger into Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service, but Saturday afternoon will bring a gradual drying trend as the ocean storm goes out to sea.

Sunday and Columbus Day should be a big improvement, with weak high pressure providing sunshine and highs of between 65 and 70 degrees

Dry, seasonable weather likely will linger into next Tuesday before a potential strong frontal system brings the risk of showers mid-week.

But a drying and cooling trend is expected to follow next Thursday and Friday.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2ICp8Kb