Boston nor'easter brings heavy rain, strong winds at end of holiday weekend
The first nor'easter of the season rolled through Massachusetts for a wet and windy end to the long holiday weekend.
Why is there a nor'easter in October?
When you hear the word "nor'easter," it might conjure up thoughts of wind-whipped snow or giant waves crashing over our sea walls. While sometimes that does occur, nor'easters are not just a winter phenomenon.
Storm season in New England typically begins around now, in October, and lasts through March or April. This is when we tend to get clashing air masses of warm and cold that feed on an infusion of energy from the warm Gulf Stream off the East Coast.
Boston nor'easter timeline
A WBZ-TV NEXT Weather Alert is in effect through Tuesday.
Monday: The peak of the storm arrived early Monday, with the heaviest rain and strongest winds.
Monday has the look of a washout in southern New England. Still, northernmost New England should be mainly dry, albeit overcast and cool.
Northeast wind gusts will peak between 30 to 45 mph across the coastal plain, and between 45 to 60 mph on Cape Cod and the Islands. A wind advisory has been issued for Barnstable County until 8 p.m. and a wind warning has been issued for Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard until 2 p.m. Monday.
There may be some isolated wind damage and power outages, but we do not expect any significant or widespread issues.
Tuesday: The storm will hang around to our south through the day on Tuesday, but it will begin to erode and weaken. So, you can expect continued showers, but less intense than Monday and also slowly diminishing winds. Still a very gray, wet and windy day, but with signs of improvement.
Rainfall totals from the entire storm will be highest across the Massachusetts east and southeast coasts. A conservative estimate is between 1-3", but there is a chance of isolated pockets reaching as high as 4-5".
This is largely good news given our recent drought status however, if too much falls all at once, there may be some localized flooding.
Lesser totals are expected to the north and west.
Coastal flooding from nor'easter
Minor coastal flooding is possible along the coast, especially in low lying areas near the shore as well as beach erosion and splash over during high tides. The National Weather Service has issued a Coastal Flood Advisory for most of eastern and southeastern Massachusetts from noon to 4 p.m. Monday.
Forecasts call for about a half foot of inundation on vulnerable coastal roads, but this would not put the Boston area in any significant flood threat.
Finally, the seas will be very angry and churned up early this week. Wave heights just offshore are expect to be 5-10 feet or higher.
As always, the WBZ NEXT Weather Team will keep you updated and covered throughout the storm. Stick with us on WBZ-TV, CBS News Boston and WBZ.com