Hi all. Just checking in with a quick morning update. Everything from last night’s forecast is still right on track. This morning’s model runs are showing the strongest winds across coastal areas southern and eastern New England, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and much of Connecticut. This swath of strong winds will shift north as the storm moves and will eventually impact coastal areas of Maine and New Hampshire, as well as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Models are currently showing sustained surface wind speeds between 35 and 45 knots in southeastern New England, and some isolated spots may see sustained winds above 50 knots. The strongest winds appear to be bulls-eyed over Cape Cod, and will spread north into the Gulf of Maine. There will obviously be higher gusts, and some gusts may approach hurricane strength (64 knots) in ares that are exposed to the south and east. The storm will continue to strengthen as it moves up into Canada, so the stronger sustained winds will be more widespread further north.
Winds will start to increase Tuesday night in the northeast. The mid-Atlantic will see the strongest winds early Wednesday morning (about 1 AM to 10 AM EST). Southern New England will see the strongest winds beginning between 3 AM and 6 AM EST Wednesday and will last until late afternoon, but strong winds on Cape Cod and surrounding areas could last until 9 or 10 PM EST before starting to taper off. Winds in Maine and New Brunswick will be strongest between about 9 AM EST Wednesday and about 1 or 2 AM EST on Thursday. A secondary burst of strong sustained winds will occur behind the passage of the cold front, but they will be nowhere near as strong as the main part of the storm (anywhere from 15-30 knots), but could be stronger on Cape Cod and in areas exposed to the north and west.
I will post another quick update this afternoon, but everything appears to be on track right now for wind and rain at the coast with wintry precipitation over the Appalachians.