Wet and Windy Wednesday!

Our storm has arrived, and after a soggy start, conditions will continue to deteriorate throughout the day. Expect rounds of heavy rain, as well as incredibly gusty winds and choppy water on this Wednesday.

Starting with the rain, we’re anticipating 2-3″ by the time this storm leaves us just after midnight. With that in mind, the Flood Watch has been extended to include the entire state of Rhode Island, as well as the South Coast and South Shore of Massachusetts. This will last into the early hours of Thursday morning.

We’re also going to see gusty winds increase throughout the day as well. By this afternoon/evening, some of those wind gusts could reach 60 mph, all the while wind speeds will be between 20-35 mph. For that reason, Rhode Island, as well as much of coastal CT, MA, ME, and NH have High Wind Warnings that will last through 1 AM Thursday. Something else of note– between the soggy ground and high winds, we could see small/weak trees toppling on powerlines and power poles, leading to possible outages around New England today.

This may not come as a surprise, but a storm this powerful is going to really churn things up along the water. As we get closer to the core of the storm and closer to high tide this afternoon, wave heights could reach 13-17 feet, leading to a Storm Warning along the coast.

Our strong winds are out of the south, driving warmer air into the region. For that reason, high temperatures skyrocket today, landing us in the low 60s (more than 15 degrees above average for most). Overnight, as the storm leaves, it’s still windy. However, the wind direction switches to be from the northwest, funneling cold air back to New England. Temperatures tomorrow will only get into the low 40s, and it’ll still be very windy through midday. Clouds clear, leaving us with some sunshine before the sun sets.

Friday will be mostly sunny, but with the cold air having settled in, high temperatures will only get to the low/mid 30s. Saturday will be mostly to partly sunny, and high temperatures will be in the upper 30s.