New England In For A Tougher Weekend Storm Than I First Thought

Snow in Cadillac, Michigan Friday
as a key ingredient for today's big
storm passed by, heading toward the Southeast U.S.  

We should all be glad the developing storm offshore from the Southeastern United States isn't going to hug the coast as it heads northeastward.  

If it did, we'd REALLY be in trouble.

As it is, with a track pretty far out there, it's going to have some nasty effects. In fact it's already causing trouble.

It was snowing before dawn as far south as Greenville, South Carolina, breaking their record by 11 days for their earliest snowfall.

 Up to 10 inches of snow is expected by the end of today in the mountains of North Carolina. 

Yesterday, as a very strong disturbance, a key ingredient in the developing storm, blasted southeastward past the Great Lakes, strong winds flooded part of Chicago's Lakeshore Drive and adjacent parklands.  Snow fell in many areas near the Great Lakes.

Today, the storm, actually sort of a double barreled type thing, will become an amazingly powerful nor'easter.

It's going to stay 100 miles or so off the coast, give or take a couple dozen miles, which is good. Had it gone right up the Eastern Seaboard, we'd expect hurricane force winds, really damaging storm surges, torrential coastal rains and inland snows possibly measured in feet.

The storm is going to be bad enough as it is. Coastal flood advisories are up for New Jersey and Long Island. High wind warnings are in effect for Cape Cod and the islands, where winds tonight could gust to over 60 mph.

The storm will hook almost due north once it gets to New England. That means the northeastern half of Maine could get more than a foot of snow. New Brunswick, Canada could get that much, too.

With such a dynamic, strong storm, it's hard to predict its exact track even within 24 hours of its arrival.

There's also going to be a sharp gradient in New England between heavy precipitation to the east, and much lighter stuff to the west.

The nor'easter seems like it might go a little more to the west than we thought yesterday, so precipitation is going to be more to the west. Winter storm watches have been extended westward in Maine all the way to the New Hampshire border.

People in northern New Hampshire and the northeastern corner of Vermont should watch this thing, because there's still a chance those areas could get much more than the one to three inches of snow that seems likely as I write this.

For the rest of the Northeast, tonight and Sunday are going to be blustery and cold, pretty winterlike.

Unless you live in one of the warmer valleys of Vermont expect a dusting of snow with this, too, except a few inches in the northern mountains.

This state of affairs isn't permanent.  As we get into next week, winds will calm down, and temperatures will rise to near normal levels.  

The weather will remain unsettled in New England next week, with frequent chances of showers but after this monster goes by there won't be any blockbuster storms for a little while, anyway.