January 8, 2023 By Meteorologist Michael Page
New England is locked in a stormy weather pattern, with several more storms lined up for the coming days.
The Next Storm: the next storm arrives around dinner time on Tuesday, and is a fast mover. It will end Wednesday morning during the commute.
What to Expect, Overview: unlike our weekend storm, which passed just offshore and brought a mixture of rain and snow to the South Shore, this system will move through the interior. That keeps us in the warm sector near Greater Boston, with temperatures surging into the 50s as the storm moves through.
Instead of wintry weather, Greater Boston will face heavy rain and strong winds with this storm. Even in Northern New England, where this storm will start as snow, the precipitation will flip over to rain or a wintry mix because of the warm air.
The Rain & Flooding: rainfall will reach 1-3″ in this 12 hour window.
This heavy rain comes after a soggy December, which notched more than 7″ of rain in Hingham. In fact, the entire year of 2023 was wet in town. The annual precipitation total of 61″ was more than 10″ higher than average.
On top of that, there is water locked up in our weekend snow, which will be released as the snow quickly melts.
South Hingham has 4″ of snow on the ground after the weekend storm, with closer to 2″ on the ground closer to the water’s edge on the other side of town.
So, the already saturated ground, the melting snow, and the additional rain on the way will undoubtedly create issues with water.
Check your sump pumps, and make sure any drains around your house are clear ahead of this storm to limit the risk of flooding.
The Wind: winds will gust 40-60 MPH Tuesday night into early Wednesday as the storm moves through.
Wind gusts in this range are not uncommon during winter, but typically we’re seeing winter gusts like this with a frozen ground.
This year the ground is not totally frozen because it’s been so warm. Instead, the ground is fairly soggy.
A soggy ground makes it easier for trees to tip, potentially resulting in power outages.
The good news is that the strongest winds will only last a few hours–this will not be a long duration storm.
Looking Ahead: unfortunately this is not the end of the busy pattern. Another storm is lined up for the start of the weekend, and there’s another that may impact us again early next week.
Updates on those systems to follow.