Heavy Rain, Thunderstorms & Gusty Winds Expected Across Western & Central Mass Tonight & Saturday

For The Rest Of Today: Cloudy skies are expected throughout the rest of today as moisture from the remnants of Nicole push northeastward towards our area. This moisture will begin to move into the area this afternoon in the form of showers. This means that I think that we’ll see scattered showers push into the entire area by mid-afternoon with this shower activity expected to continue through late this afternoon. Temperatures this afternoon will be between 65 and 70 Degrees. Winds will be South at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight Through Saturday Morning: The remnants of Nicole will track along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains tonight and then across New York State and northern New England during the day on Saturday. This weather system will combine with an eastward moving frontal system to produce widespread showers with heavy downpours, scattered thunderstorms and gusty winds across all of Western and Central Mass throughout tonight and throughout Saturday morning. Gusty Winds: South winds are expected to increase to 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 to 40 mph this evening with South winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 to 50 mph expected after midnight tonight. During Saturday morning, it is expected that we are going to see South to Southwest winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 to 50 mph through mid-morning with the winds shifting into the west by late morning and decreasing to 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. In terms of when the peak winds are expected, at this time, it appears that will be between about midnight tonight and 9 am Saturday morning with gusts of 40 to 50 mph expected. Heavy Rain & Thunderstorms: The remnants of Nicole are expected to pull plenty of very humid tropical air northward into New England tonight and Saturday morning. This will lead to widespread showers to occur throughout tonight into the first part of Saturday morning. These showers will contain heavy downpours at times. It appears that the showers will come to an end by about 9-10 am Saturday morning and total rainfall amounts from this system In addition to the widespread showers with heavy downpours, I also think that there will be some scattered thunderstorm activity tonight and early Saturday morning. The severe weather threat looks very low, but any thunderstorms will still have the capability to produce some localized very heavy rain. Also, a strong thunderstorm or two tonight and early Saturday morning may be able to pull down some really strong winds just above our heads leading to the possibility for isolated wind gusts to 50 to 60 mph. Total rainfall amounts of 1 to 1.50 inches look likely with the higher amounts expected across Western Mass. Any flooding tonight into Saturday morning will be limited to areas where leaves are clogging the storm drains or on roads and highways that are prone to flooding. Temperatures: It will be mild and very humid tonight and Saturday morning with low temperatures tonight of 60 and 65 Degrees and temperatures Saturday morning of 65 to 70 Degrees. Saturday Afternoon: Skies are expected to become at least partly sunny during Saturday with drier and much less humid air pushing into the area. Temperatures Saturday afternoon will fall to between 60 and 65 Degrees. Winds will be West at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Sunday: A follow-up trough of low pressure is expected to push through the area during the day on Sunday. This means that there will be a mixture of some sunshine and lots of clouds throughout the day on Sunday and there will be some scattered showers around, especially between about 9 am and 2 pm or so. High temperatures Sunday will be between 50 and 55 Degrees. Winds will be Northwest at 5 to 10 mph. Next Week’s Weather Outlook: Some colder to much colder than average temperatures are expected throughout next week and we are going to be on the lookout for our first chance for at least snow in the air. Monday will be sunny with high temperatures near 45 Degrees. Tuesday is expected to be sunny to partly sunny with high temperatures between 40 and 45 Degrees. For Tuesday night and Wednesday, an area of low pressure is expected to track from the Mid-Atlantic states through the northeastern United States. When exactly the moisture from this storm system will determine whether we see not only snow across much of the area, but also if any of the snow actually accumulates or not. At this point, I think that we’ll see skies become cloudy Tuesday evening with precipitation occurring from after midnight Tuesday night right through all day Wednesday. Based on this timeline, I think we may see a rain-snow mix south of the Mass Pike and wet snow near and north of the Mass Pike from after midnight Tuesday night until about mid-morning Wednesday. This looks to then change to all rain across the entire area by mid-morning Wednesday with rain then possibly continuing through the rest of the day Wednesday. If there’s going to be snow accumulations late Tuesday night, it looks to occur north of the Mass Pike and especially north of Route 2 and also west of I-91. That said, any snow accumulations should be light with maximum amounts of perhaps around one inch. Low temperatures Tuesday night will be between 30 and 35 Degrees. High temperatures Wednesday will be near 45 Degrees. A cold northwesterly wind flow will be in place for Thursday under a mixture of sunshine and clouds. High temperatures Thursday will be between 40 and 45 Degrees. Next Friday looks partly sunny with high temperatures between 40 and 45 Degrees.