Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts

Friday, January 20, 2017

Nor'easter Comin'


Hey there! We wanted to give you the early heads-up, as a powerful Nor'easter is targeting us for Monday and Tuesday.

AS FOR NOW, it looks like a rain event in SE Massachusetts. However, long-range forecasts have a way of changing. Our last blizzard started off as a forecast of "six inches of snow over two days" before evolving into the snow machine which eventually visited us.

This storm looks notable for three reasons:

RAIN.... We're looking at 1-3 inches of rain. .10" of rain is a good soaking, while 3" gets up near Tropical Storm territory. No one has said snow for our area, and I want to stress that before stating that- depending on how fluffy it is- 3" of rain would equate to a couple of feet of snow.

COASTAL FLOODING... Winds along the coast will approach 50 mph, more than enough to push an angry sea towards your beach house. One thing that you have going for you? Low astronomical tides. Duxbury Beach, where we hope to embed ourselves for the storm, has a piddling 9 foot tide lined up for Tuesday morning, as opposed to the 11.4 flood tide that they got during the new moon on the 12th. Tuesday morning looks to be the height of the storm, for now anyways.

LENGTH... This looks like one of those 3 tide storms, which is why relatively weak nor'easters often inflict damage similar to a more powerful tropical systems. The ocean always wins, and it generally wins by attrition. "Attrition" is one of those flighty terms, which can mean anything that a journalist needs it to, but the basic idea is that a series of strong tides will wear down a beach through erosion. I'm not 100% sure exactly how long this storm will drop NE winds on the coast, so some of those storm tides may have winds that don't help the waves directly towards the beach.

This is more of a Heads Up than a detailed forecast. We'll be back with an update as the storm gets closer.


Friday, July 29, 2016

Much Needed Rain Coming Friday Morning


Massachusetts has been in quite a drought, and we have a rain deficit of several inches. That's not going to be a problem today, as soaking rains are set to enter the region.

From the National Weather Service:

BARNSTABLE (and PLYMOUTH) COUNTY:

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING...

THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR

* PORTIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND...
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS...IN SOUTHEASTERN
MASSACHUSETTS...BARNSTABLE MA...DUKES MA...EASTERN PLYMOUTH
MA...NANTUCKET MA...NORTHERN BRISTOL MA...SOUTHERN BRISTOL
MA...SOUTHERN PLYMOUTH MA AND WESTERN PLYMOUTH MA. IN RHODE
ISLAND...BLOCK ISLAND RI...BRISTOL RI...EASTERN KENT RI...
NEWPORT RI...NORTHWEST PROVIDENCE RI...SOUTHEAST PROVIDENCE
RI...WASHINGTON RI AND WESTERN KENT RI.

* THROUGH THIS EVENING

* RAIN MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES IN RHODE ISLAND AND SOUTHEAST
MASSACHUSETTS. RAINFALL TOTALS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE
FORECAST...WITH 2 TO 4 INCH AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN LOCALLY HEAVY
DOWNPOURS. LOCATIONS NEAR THE SOUTH COAST...CAPE COD AND THE
ISLANDS ARE MOST LIKELY TO RECEIVE THE HIGHEST RAINFALL TOTALS.

* SIGNIFICANT URBAN FLOODING IS POSSIBLE INCLUDING ROADS AND
UNDERPASSES THAT ARE PRONE TO FLOODING IN HEAVY RAIN. SOME
SMALL STREAMS MAY ALSO RISE OUT OF THEIR BANKS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD
TO RAPID AND LIFE THREATENING FLOODING. BE PREPARED. IF YOU LIVE
OR WORK IN AN AREA PRONE TO FLOODING...KNOW A SAFE PLACE TO GO IF
FLOODING OCCURS OR IF A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED.

DRIVERS SHOULD PLAN TO AVOID FLOODED ROADS AND HAVE AN ALTERNATE
ROUTE AVAILABLE.

STAY TUNED TO LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION
SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED





The rain should start this morning, and clear off the Cape by the afternoon. We're looking at anywhere between a half inch and 4 inches of rain. Tropical rainstorms (not a tropical storm) are fickle girls, and you never know where the bounty will be until it falls.

This won't erase our rain deficit. In heavy rains, much of the rain is lost to runoff, once the ground becomes saturated.

Your lawns, flowers and vegetables are already doing their happy dance. The person paying $3000 a week to rent a Cape cottage? Maybe not so much.

Here's the radar shot from 6:45 AM Friday.