Major Nor'Easter Continues Today

Monday March 15, 2010 06:42 AM

Tuesday AM Update: The major storm center that hammered the Eastern Seaboard for the better part of the last 4 days is finally pulling away from the region. This storm produced extremely heavy rainfall - in some cases better than 10" - over parts of Massachusetts and produced nearly hurricane force winds over the Mid-Atlantic. More on this storm's impacts along the eastern seaboard can be found HERE.

Some rainfall totals for Cape Cod:

• Yarmouth Port (CapeCodWeather.Net): 3.73"
• South Dennis: 4.21"
• Hyannis: 2.85"
• Provincetown: 3.43"
• Chatham: 2.15"

Previous Forecast: A major spring Nor'easter continues to pound Southern New England today - making it day 3 of strong onshore winds and periods of rain.

This storm is bringing severe flooding to areas north and west of Cape Cod, where well over 5" of rain has already fallen, with localized totals greater than 7" being reported - with more rain to come. Here on the Cape, totals have ranged from 2 to 3" thus far, but more rain is in the cards today. In fact, another inch of rain may fall during the day today, bringing widespread totals of 3 to 4 inches to the area.

In addition to the rain, this system has brought a prolonged period of strong onshore winds. Winds peaked Saturday night, when frequent gusts to 60 mph battered the region, bringing downed trees and power outages. An unofficial gust to 73 mph was reported at Cape Cod Hospital. After subsiding a bit yesterday, winds will ramp up again today, increasing to 25 to 30 mph with gusts again approaching 50 mph this evening and especially tonight.

This prolonged storm is producing very large waves and minor to moderate coastal flooding along east facing shores. While the coastal flood threat will not be as bad as it could have been due to relatively low astronomical tides, beach erosion will be extensive. From Chatham northward to Provincetown exposed locations will have experienced substantial - perhaps severe - erosion by the time things taper down on Tuesday.

If you have pictures, storm totals, observations, or just a comment or question on the storm - please submit them to us via the comments section or through email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .