Thursday: Periodic rain with a gusty, raw wind. Highs in the 40s, wind chill 30s.
Overnight Tonight: Mostly cloudy, Cape Cod shower. Lows in the 30s.
Friday: Sun for most, some Cape clouds. Highs in the 40s east, 50s west.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy. Late evening and night rain, mountain snow. Highs in the 40s.
Although periodic rain continues through Thursday, the heaviest of the rain has fallen and very few spots are expected to see any new flooding of low-lying areas.
That said, the roughly 2 inches of rain that fell across New England is still running through our streams and into our rivers, so some rivers are expected to flood Thursday night into Friday.
Nearly all river flooding that does occur will be minor, except for Rhode Island's Pawtuxet and Wood Rivers, which should reach moderate flood stage but fall about four feet shy of the serious levels reached in December flooding at the beginning of the winter.
Elsewhere, the biggest impact Thursday into Thursday night is probably the cold, raw feeling wind.
While the rain jacket will be needed for an additional quarter inch of rain spread over the day, temperatures around or just over 40 degrees with a steady north-northeast wind gusting up to 40 miles per hour at the coast and 45 miles per hour on Cape Cod will contribute to a wind chill factor of 30 to 35 at the warmest time of the day!
Even as showers ship out and drying ensues Thursday night, the breeze will continue from the north, dragging cooler air southward across New England. Friday, the drier and cooler air will deliver sunshine — and that sun should help temperatures to rise above 50 degrees in the western half of New England while eastern areas are likely to stay cooler, in the 40s.
Dry weather should hold through the daylight hours Saturday even as a new storm approaches New England from the west.
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Eventually, the approaching storm will spread rain into southern New England Saturday late evening and snow into northern New England.
While the storm will redevelop from a position over northern New York State to a position over the western Gulf of Maine, air mild enough to change snow to rain will spread into some of northern New England Saturday overnight into Sunday, though the mountains and higher terrain will likely remain as snow Sunday, with at least some pockets of snow lingering into Sunday night and Monday on favored northwest slopes.
When all is said and done, Ski Country should walk away with anywhere between 4 to 8 inches of snow in the higher terrain of the Green Mountains of Vermont, and 6 to 12 inches or more of snow in the higher terrain of the Presidentials to the Mahoosuc area of Maine.
Farther south, rain Saturday night and Sunday morning will break apart for Sunday afternoon and if breaks of sun emerge, temperatures should reach the 50s later Sunday.
A new weather pattern takes hold for most of next week in New England with Monday marking a transition day under variable clouds and some lingering mountain snow showers ahead of improved weather with moderating temperatures for the middle to end of next week — though the chance of rain showers does rise next Friday into Saturday, at the end of our exclusive First Alert 10-day forecast.
