There's More Where That Came From

Wed 3/5:

Quite a wild morning around the Cape as a strong squall line pushed through the region and brought heavy downpours and strong gusty winds. Thankfully, the line weakened a bit as it approached the Cape - as it brought 60 to 70 mph winds to RI which caused some damage in spots. We picked up between 1/3 and 1/2 inch of rain as the squall line passed through. This was a well developed storm and the satellite presentation of the system was quite impressive.

Now we get a nice 36 hour break before our next storm comes roaring up the coast with more rain and wind. Expect Wednesday afternoon's sunshine to last through Thursday and the first part of Friday. And with a lack of deep cold air over the Northeast, temperatures will remain above normal through Friday, with high temperatures both Thursday and Friday in the 40s.

As for the next storm: The jet stream is going to dig down through the central part of the country tomorrow, sending a surge of very cold air at the surface and aloft south and eastward and helping to spawn low pressure over the Lower Mississippi River Valley. This system will then intensify and head northeastward towards New England Friday Night and Saturday. Early in the week there was some question as to just how this cold air would press eastward. Would a storm form early and come up the coast, sweeping the cold air east behind it, or would development take place offshore with a quieter transition to cold? Well with the upper level trough axis remaining to our west, partially owing to a pretty stubborn western Atlantic ridge, it's going to take a storm to get the cold to the east coast. And it's going to be another sizable storm at that.

This looks like another soaker, with plenty of Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic moisture lifting up the East Coast with the storm. Look for a storm track from Georgia northward to New York State - meaning another mild system for Cape Cod, ensuring liquid precipitation once again. And given all the dynamics coming together with this system, a 1 to 2 inch rainfall is certainly possible, with higher amounts not out of the question. We'll have another very strong southerly low level jet developing in advance of the storm, so another round of gusty southerly winds is likely in the cards.

I think for Cape Cod, aside from some very heavy rain, the most intriguing aspect to this storm will be a potentially sharp drop in temperatures on the backside of the storm. As this system lifts northward up the coast, much colder air is going to be drawn eastward, underneath the circulation center and will sweep to the coast later Saturday or Saturday night. This sharp drop in temperature could be accompanied by some snow showers or snow squalls and readings could drop from the 50s Saturday to the 20s Sunday.