Soaking Rain & Coastal Flooding On The Way

Our beautiful, quiet stretch of weather is about to come to a close.  By the time this week is over, we'll be measuring rainfall amounts on the order of inches!  Considering we haven't had any measureable rainfall in two weeks and we're running over 7" below average for yearly precipitation in Boston, the wet weather will be very beneficial.

So let's break down the forecast details…

Today and tomorrow will feel more like late August as opposed to September, highs will top out in the 75-80 degree range both days with increasing humidity. While there'll be an isolated shower risk today, and a scattered shower threat tomorrow (mainly north & west of Boston), the main event arrives on Wednesday.

Pockets of rain and downpours will slowly fill in from west to east Tuesday night into Wednesday morning in advance of an approaching front. The rain will ramp up in intensity and coverage during the day on Wednesday. Both commutes will be impacted and the heavy rain will likely result in localized flooding.

While the front will gradually push offshore on Wednesday night, there are signs that remnants of Tropical Depression #11 could inject some additional moisture and energy into that front, enhancing rainfall again on Thursday and Friday.

Tropical Depression #11 could become Tropical Storm Joaquin by tomorrow. Eventually, moisture from this disturbance plays a role in our weather too.

Unfortunately, as we head into the weekend, that front looks like it will stall out. Additional moisture may work northward, keeping the threat for locally heavy rain around on both Saturday and Sunday.

Upper level low & negatively tilted trough over the Eastern Seaboard (courtesy of weather.cod.edu)

In terms of wind, a persistent and gusty onshore flow may result in pockets of isolated outages in eastern MA later this week, though the extent of how high the gusts will be is still uncertain at this time.  Coastal residents should also be prepared for pockets of minor flooding and beach erosion courtesy of the astronomical high tides and wind off the ocean.

Significant Wave Height forecast for Thursday evening, 12-15' seas from the Delmarva to New England (image credit: Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center)

Aside from the rain and wind, our temperatures will take a nosedive as we turn the calendar to October. Highs will only top out in the 50s on Thursday and Friday and lower 60s this weekend.

We'll be breaking down the details of this system all week on WBZ, so stay tuned to our latest forecasts.

-Danielle