Much of Massachusetts will be spared from the impact of Hurricane Lee, now a post-tropical cyclone; however, coastal areas of the state are in for some stormy conditions this weekend, including fierce winds, heavy rainfall and harsh waves.
As Lee, whose southern tip is currently located east of Nantucket, moves north toward Canada on Saturday and passes offshore of Massachusetts, a post-tropical storm warning remains in effect for the entire coast of the state, from the border with New Hampshire to the border with Rhode Island.
The National Weather Service is warning of damaging winds as high as 60 mph on Cape Cod and Nantucket, minor coastal flooding and large breaking waves with dangerous rip currents.
Toppled trees and power lines are another concern. As of about 8:45 a.m. Saturday, there were nearly 1,000 residents or businesses on the Cape without electricity, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s online power outage map.
“Post-Tropical Storm Lee will pass offshore of southern New England today but its impacts will extend far from the storm’s center, mainly affecting the Massachusetts coastline,” the Weather Service noted.
Heavy rainfall from Lee may cause flooding in parts of far Eastern Massachusetts, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Dangerous and life-threatening rip currents are also forecast along the Eastern Seaboard, Atlantic Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the northern Leeward Islands this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“Tropical storm conditions and coastal flooding are occurring across portions of coastal New England and Atlantic Canada, and will continue to spread northward within the Tropical Storm Warning areas,” the Hurricane Center said. “The strong winds are likely to lead to downed trees and potential power outages.”
As of 8 a.m., Lee was moving north at 25 mph and had sustained winds of 80 mph. The post-tropical cyclone was hovering close to the coast of Canada. Hurricane conditions are possible across portions of southern New Brunswick and Nova Scotia later Saturday, according to the Hurricane Center.
Massachusetts was experiencing the peak of the post-tropical cyclone Saturday morning, with winds gusting at 45 to 55 mph on the Cape and Nantucket and 20 to 30 mph further west over inland parts of the state and Rhode Island. Gusts were expected to top out at 39 mph in Boston, 34 mph in Worcester and 28 mph in Springfield, the Weather Service said.
The Patriot Ledger reported the next high tide on the South Shore is 1 p.m. Saturday, with the area under a coastal flooding warning until 2 p.m. and high surf advisories until 11 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Boston.
The weather service office told the Patriot Ledger the South Shore didn’t get a lot of coastal flooding with the 1 a.m. high tide, but saw minor flooding in Nantucket Harbor and some “splashover” in Scituate.
The Cape Cod Times reported a coastal flood warning was issued for the Cape until 2 p.m. Saturday. “According to the National Weather Service, one to two feet of inundation above ground level is possible in low-lying areas near shorelines and tidal waterways,” the Times wrote.
The Cape also has a high surf advisory that could bring breaking waves of 5-27 feet, rip current and dangerous swimming conditions, the Time reported.
Over the next several hours, the storm will lift north into Nova Scotia, allowing the rain shield to make its way back east and leaving mostly dry and gusty conditions across Massachusetts during the early afternoon hours. Some locations, particularly in the western and central parts of the state, may see a good amount of sun, favoring Western and Central Massachusetts, according to the Weather Service.
With the storm clearing and winds diminishing in the afternoon Saturday, southern New England should be nudged into a pleasant fall day Sunday. More unsettled weather, including some rainfall, is expected late Sunday night into Monday as a frontal storm system moves through, the Weather Service said.