Storm Coordination Message #2 – Saturday 3/23/24-Early Sunday AM 3/24/24 – Wintry Mix/Heavy Rainfall/Strong Wind Mulit-Hazard Storm

Hello to all…

..Storm system is bringing a wintry mix of snow/sleet/freezing rain to Western and Central Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut a bit further south and east than expected but is still expected to change to rain heavy at times in these areas with rain heavy at times across Connecticut, Rhode Island, South Central and Eastern Massachusetts which could lead to a renewed risk of flooding of small rivers, streams, urban and poor drainage areas early Saturday Morning through Sunday Morning..
..A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect through 12 PM Saturday for Hartford County CT, Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, Northern Worcester and Northern Middlesex Counties of Massachusetts and expanded to include Tolland, Windham Counties of Connecticut and Southern Worcester County Massachusetts for a trace to 0.25″ of ice with the highest icing in the east slopes of the Berkshires and Worcester Hills. Northeast Massachusetts could see light icing this morning with trace amounts changing to rain later this morning. The icing could cause slippery travel conditions and where amounts of icing reach 0.25″, isolated pockets of tree and wire damage and power outages from icing..
..A Flood Watch remains in effect from Saturday Morning to Sunday Morning for Connecticut, Rhode Island, Hampden, Southern Worcester, Essex, Central and Southeast Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties of Massachusetts for excessive rainfall of 2-3″ with higher amounts possible having the potential to cause flooding of small rivers, streams, urban and poor drainage areas..
..A Wind Advisory is now in effect from 5 PM to 11 PM Saturday Afternoon and Evening for Eastern Kent, Bristol, Washington, Newport Counties of Rhode Island including Block Island and Southeast Massachusetts including Bristol, Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties of Massachusetts for sustained winds of 20-30 MPH with gusts up to 50 MPH. Areas outside of the Wind Advisory in East Coastal Massachusetts could see wind gusts to 40 MPH. These winds will cause isolated to scattered pockets of tree and wire damage and power outages..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation with ad-hoc as needed Amateur Radio Call-Up Nets will monitor for snowfall, ice accretion, rain gauge, flooding, measured wind gusts 40 MPH or greater and any flood or wind damage reports from this storm system. Pictures of the wintry mix, flooding, wind damage etc. can be sent as a reply to this message, via our WX1BOX Facebook and Twitter feeds or to the email address pics@nsradio.org with credit given to the spotter unless otherwise indicated..

A storm system is bringing a wintry mix changing to rain in Western, Central Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut with heavy rain and potential flooding across Connecticut, Rhode Island and Southeast Massachusetts and the potential for strong to damaging winds in Southeast Massachusetts and Southeast/South-Central Rhode Island. The headlines depict the current thinking. Key factors include:

1.) Monitoring the wintry mix changeover to rain and timing for any increase or decrease in snow/ice accumulations. Currently, the wintry mix has been able to take a hold a bit further south and east across Northern Connecticut into central and even parts of Northeast Mass with slightly higher icing possible especially in the higher elevations of Western and Central Massachusetts but a changeover to rain is still expected by around 12 PM today.
2.) Axis of heavy rainfall and where isolated or an axis of highest amounts setup in the flood watch area. This is currently expected across Connecticut, Rhode Island and Southeast Massachusetts and will be closely monitored.
3.) How the heavy rainfall and the amount that falls in a given amount of time affects rivers, streams, urban and poor drainage areas.
4.) A period of strong to damaging winds with the heaviest rainfall later this Saturday afternoon and evening in South-Central Rhode Island and Southeast Massachusetts could cause isolated to scattered pockets of wind damage in this area.

SKYWARN Self-Activation with ad-hoc as needed Amateur Radio Call-Up Nets will monitor for snowfall, ice accretion, rain gauge, flooding and any damage reports from this storm system. Pictures of the wintry mix, flooding, damage reports etc. can be sent as a reply to this message, via our WX1BOX Facebook and Twitter feeds or to the email address pics@nsradio.org with credit given to the spotter unless otherwise indicated. This will be the last coordination message as we shift into operations mode. Below is the NWS Boston/Norton Area Forecast Discussion, Winter Weather Advisory Statement & Snow/Ice Maps, Flood Watch Statement & Rainfall Map, Wind Advisory Statement & WInd Gust Map and Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:

NWS Boston/Norton Area Forecast Discussion:
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off

NWS Boston/Norton Winter Weather Advisory Statement & Snow/Ice Maps:
https://www.weather.gov/box/winter

NWS Boston/Norton Flood Watch Statement & Rainfall Map:
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=FFA&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/StormTotalRainfall-3-23-24.png

NWS Boston/Norton Wind Advisory Statement & Wind Gust Map:
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=NPW&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off
https://wx1box.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Max_Wind_Gusts-3-23-24.png

NWS Boston/Norton Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=box

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
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