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Excuse the bad news, but the Red Sox lost at 3:30 a.m. and now here comes a nor’easter.
The storm is expected to bring “widespread heavy rain, some urban and poor drainage street flooding, as well as damaging wind gusts on the coastal” through the day Saturday, according to the National Weather Service on Twitter.
Boston could see 1-2 inches of rain, sustained winds at 40 miles per hour with gusts over 58 miles per hour, and high tides as much as 2 feet higher than normal, according to Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist with the weather service. The bulk of the storm could stick around as late as 8 p.m., she said. The high temperature in the city Saturday will likely peak in the low 50s.
The worst of the storm’s impacts will likely be around Situate, where the high tide could swell to 3 feet above normal, according to Buttrick. The South Shore and Nantucket will likely bear the brunt of the storm, she said.
A high wind warning is in effect for the southern coast and islands until 5 p.m. with 20- to 35-mile-per-hour winds and gusts up to 60 miles per hour. “Damaging winds will blow down trees and power lines. Widespread power outages are expected” on Cape Cod and the islands, forecasters wrote.
Thunderstorms are also a possibility for southern Massachusetts, meaning there is a potential for tornado or waterspout “even though it is a very low, low risk,” Buttrick said.
While late October is the normal start of nor’easter season, this storm is a bit unusual because it originated as powerful category 5 Hurricane Willa in the Pacific, according to Buttrick.
She said the storm “could even pose more damage with fully leaved trees,” with a greater risk of uprooted trunks and broken limbs, she said.
Some snow and sleet is also possible in higher elevations in the interior of the state at the onset of the storm, forecasters wrote. The first snow of the season had been observed in Rowe, in the northwest part of the state, before 7 a.m., according to the weather service.
And at the opposite corner of the state, the Steamship Authority reported 3-foot seas and winds at 40 knots, or about 46 miles per hour, at 8 a.m., the weather service said on Twitter.
The weather service issued a gale warning for Boston Harbor, where cruise ships and tankers are traveling in and out Saturday, Buttrick said. Swells could grow to 20 feet offshore, she said.
The Steamship Authority cancelled seven trips due to the conditions from 8:35 a.m. until noon. The high-speed ferry trips from Hyannis to Nantucket were cancelled Saturday, and Martha’s Vineyard service was cancelled for the entire day, Hy-line Cruises said on Twitter.
But maybe there’s a silver lining after all.
“At least we’re just dealing with the rain aspect,” Buttrick said. “Not snow.”
Lucas Phillips can be reached at [email protected].
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