High wind watch issued for Massachusetts as storm brings snow to northern New England
The Boston area could see strong, damaging winds Wednesday night into early Thursday as a storm brings snow to northern New England.
Over the last week or so, we have had several very gusty days, including Tuesday. As of mid-day, most of southern New England was experiencing gusts between 25-50 mph.
The WBZ weather team is issuing a NEXT Weather Alert for Wednesday night because it appears as though that event could be a slightly higher impact.
The National Weather Service has already issued a High Wind Watch for all of central and eastern Massachusetts from Wednesday night through Thursday morning.
Storm bringing some snow to northern New England
The wind is coming on the back side of an "Alberta Clipper." This type of storm is named from its source region (Alberta, Canada) and typically describes a fast-moving but potent storm system that makes a beeline from Alberta to New England in the fall and winter.
Many times, it can mean accumulating snowfall for our area and, while there is some snow expected in northern New England, this will bring just a few rain showers to southern New England late Wednesday. Again, the main impact will be the wind that arrives after the storm passes.
The best chance of seeing a shower or downpour will be between 8 p.m. and midnight on Wednesday.
Wind timeline for Massachusetts
The winds will come on quick and strong, peaking between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 7 a.m. Thursday.
West-northwesterly gusts could reach as high as 45-65 mph during that timeframe.
That would certainly lead to scattered tree damage and perhaps, some power outages.
After 7 a.m. on Thursday, the winds will slowly taper down, below warning criteria by midday and afternoon.