A nor’easter has taken aim at the Atlantic Coast this week, and it will strengthen while moving along the coast bringing heavy rain, strong winds, and big waves with it. New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada seem to be the most at risk for the severe threat.
The worst part of the storm thus far is expected to occur on early Thursday in New England into Thursday night in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. New England was pounded with rain and strong winds on Wednesday night, leaving parts of the state with widespread damages. Tens of thousands of residents were without power across New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and Connecticut, and at one point about 44,000 customers were without power in the area.
Trees and power lines were sent crashing to the ground blocking roadways throughout Massachusetts due to the strong gusty winds that came blasting through the area. High winds are likely to continue and may down more trees and power lines, which will result in more outages from New England to Nova Scotia.
This bout of unfavorable conditions will be prolonged in Maine, Halifax, Portland, Boston, and Nova Scotia. Traveling may be an issue for residents trying to fly or even drive during the nor’easter. The combination of heavy rain and strong winds will lead to many traveling problem. On Wednesday, many flights were delayed and motorists suffered a slow commute on area roadways.
Philadelphia International Airport and LaGuardia Airport underwent about 500 flight delays each as the storm created conditions that were not safe for flying. JFK and Logan Airports also suffered many delays as well.
Localized flooding is definitely going to be an issue due to the fact at the wind will sweep the rain and lead to flooding over the roads. Some minor flooding was reported in New Jersey already that closed roadways. Street flooding may also be an issue due to clogged storm drains from the falling leaves and heavy rain.
East Milton, a town in Massachusetts, received more than 5 inches of rain from when it started on Wednesday to Thursday morning. Also, locally heavy rain will reach parts of northern upstate New York into southeastern Quebec.
So far, this storm has already produced 15 foot seas along the coast of eastern New England. Because there is a new moon in effect and high onshore wind, coastal flooding will be an issue at times of high tide from Nova Scotia to Massachusetts. The tides will run about 1 to 3 feet above the normal levels according to the tidal charts. High tides at Boston through Thursday will occur during the later morning and then again late evening. This may also lead to beach erosion due to the prolonged amount of time that the waves have to crash against the shores.
If you plan on traveling throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, you should probably plan for flight delays. There are gusty winds that are present from the north and northwest and can lead to delays at some of the airports that are farther south in the I-95 corridor such as Washington D.C and Philadelphia.
From there, dry air will then make its way through the region along the backside of the storm. This will occur from Thursday into Saturday, and the near-shore seas will subside this weekend throughout the region. There is also a weaker storm system that is trailing behind the nor’easter, and it may move into the northwest with clouds and some showers on Saturday night into Sunday through New York and New England. This cell is also expected to create blustery conditions. Even though this excessive rain is pretty inconvenient, it still has some positive impacts as well. Some locations in the northeast have received low amounts of rainfall, and the ground has been left drier than normal. This rain will help with the mild drought.
