It won’t be as cold, but it will certainly be wet.
A storm currently over the Great Lakes will continue to push northeast towards Quebec tonight into Thursday. This system will swing a strong cold front through New England by Friday, but ahead of it, a surge of moisture and mild air will move in on Thursday.
Temperatures will finally rebound into the 50s, but it will come with morning showers that turn to downpours. Expect 1-2 inches of rain with the heaviest precipitation falling between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Both of our commutes will be impacted; however the evening commute will be tougher considering it aligns with the peak of the storm. Drivers could even see thunder and lightning on their way home.
I'm not expecting a severe weather outbreak, but with any thunderstorm that develops there could be brief, gusty and potentially damaging winds and torrential downpours. The wind in general will be strong ahead of the cold front tomorrow afternoon. South winds could gust as high as 40 to 45 mph along the south coast to the Cape and Islands, with gusts closer to 35 mph inland from the morning hours all the way through the late afternoon.
During the peak of the storm, heavy rain could greatly reduce visibility and you can expect ponding out on the roads; however, rivers and streams are expected to remain within their banks.
Seas will be rough at times with that southerly wind pushing up against the shore. Pockets of minor coastal flooding are expected Thursday mid-morning during high tide along the South Coast, but the bigger concern is the Thursday evening high tide cycle where moderate coastal flooding is a possibility due to a storm surge of 1.5 to 2.0 feet combined with high astronomical tides.
Local
There is a Coastal Flood Advisory for South Coastal Rhode Island and Massachusetts for Thursday morning's high tide. This includes the communities around Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay. In addition, a Coastal Flood Watch has been issued for the same areas for Thursday evening's high tide.
Gale Warnings have also been issued for all Rhode Island and Massachusetts coastal waters Thursday into Thursday night. The bulk of the moisture should be offshore by late evening but the weekend won’t be perfect. As previously mentioned, cold air comes in behind the front so we are looking at temperatures below average both Saturday and Sunday. We are also keeping our eye on a coastal storm that will develop and pass very close to our south on Saturday night into Sunday.
