November 2020 is wrapping up with another warm, windy storm, and a First Alert continues from our NBC10 Boston and NECN weather team through Monday night.
Gale-force winds are lashing much of the northeastern U.S., prompting flash-flood warnings and knocking out power to tens of thousands.
There is a flash flood warning in effect for one county in Maine and several in New Hampshire through 2:45 a.m. Between 2-2.5 inches of rain have fallen, and additional rainfall amounts of 1-2 inches are possible over the next hour in these areas.
In New Hampshire, the warning is in effect for the following counties: Carroll, Coos, Grafton, Sullivan, Cheshire, and Hillsborough. Some impacted locations include Keene, Jaffrey, Swanzey, Winchester, Marlborough, Fitzwilliam, Bradford, Dublin, Richmond, Harrisville, Conway, Fryeburg, Bethel, Bethlehem, Lincoln, Pinkham Notch, Tamworth, Sandwich, Waterford, and Woodstock
A warning is also in effect for Oxford County in western Maine, with impacted areas including: Crawford Notch State Park, Mount Eisenhower, Mount Chocorua, Wildcat Mountain, Speckled Mountain, Carter Notch, Evans Notch, Kearsarge North, Mount Isolation, Mount Webster, Mount Whiteface, Mount Moriah, Caribou Mountain, AMC Mizpah Spring Hut, AMC Carter Notch Hut, Mount Carrigan, Mount Willey, Mount Jackson, Arethusa Falls, Ripley Falls, Mount Osceola, Mount Tecumseh, Welch Mountain, Dickey Mountain, The Tripyramids, Mount Passaconaway, Greeley Ponds, Sabbaday Falls, Champney Falls, Rocky Gorge Scenic Area, Lower Falls Recreation Area, North Baldface, South Baldface, Mount Doublehead, West Royce Mountain, Mountain Pond, East Royce Mountain, Albany Mountain, Deer Hills, and Sabbatus Mountain.
Drivers are advised to be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize the dangers of flooding.
As heavy rainfall bore down on a large swath of southern New England, authorities warned of the potential for widespread power outages and dangerous street flooding during the evening rush hour.
More than 15,500 homes and businesses are without power in Massachusetts as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency's website. At one point earlier in the evening, upwards of 46,000 had lost power in the Bay State.
The rain is expanding from southwest to northeast, reaching northern Maine Monday evening and falling heavily through the first half of the night, dropping one to two inches of precipitation.
Rainfall totals won't be enough to cause river flooding or widespread flooding, but they certainly will be sufficient for street flooding and interstate hydroplaning concerns during the afternoon and evening.
Reduced visibility will also contribute to slow travel, not only on roads, but also at New England's airports for incoming and outgoing flights Monday late day and evening.
Couple the rain with the wind, and headaches increase: southeast winds will gradually turn to blow from the south, gusting to over 60 mph in southeastern Massachusetts and the coast of Maine, and over 50 mph in eastern New England, as well as the western slopes of the southern Green Mountains of Vermont and perhaps the northwest slopes of New Hampshire's White Mountains, causing scattered power outages Monday evening into night.
"Hold on to your hats!'' the National Weather Service in Boston tweeted as gusts exceeded 50 mph in Boston.
At Boston Logan Airport, a 54 mph gust was reported with sustain tropical storm force winds, NBC10 Boston meteorologist Chris Gloninger reported.
The wind was blamed for a number of downed trees that were reported across the commonwealth, including in Ashland, Woburn, Westborough, Hopkinton, Blackstone and East Boston.
The Westborough Fire Department warned residents to expect intermittent power outages, in addition to downed trees.
Fire officials said in a Facebook post that crews were responding to numerous weather-related incidents, including a building that collapsed as a result of a fallen tree.
The fire department asked residents to be aware of their surroundings as the storm continues through the night.
Traffic had to be diverted on Bennington Street in East Boston after powerful wind gusts sent the tree crashing down across the roadway.
It was an inconvenience on a busy street but neighbors say they are just grateful it didn't land on anyone or anything. Michelle Langley says she couldn't believe it when she saw the downed tree.
"I heard this large crackling sound immediately. I was like something is going on on the back deck, trees are falling on our jeep or something else is happening with the wind because it was right after a really large gust so I happened to look across the street and lying there was that tree huge," Langley recalled. "I couldn’t believe it."
There was some concern that the tree had hit a nearby power line but police say that was not the case. Crews were able to remove the tree and Bennington Street was back open to traffic.
Elsewhere in the commonwealth, the state transportation agency said a portion of the eastbound Massachusetts Turnpike was shut down late Monday after a tractor-trailer rig jacknifed, spilling a large amount of fuel on the highway. It was one of two separate tractor trailer crashes, police said. No serious injuries were reported, but state police lowered the speed limit elsewhere on Interstate 90 after a number of crashes blamed on poor road conditions.
In Warren, Rhode Island, heavy winds uprooted a large Burger King sign and sent it crashing to the ground.
Winter Weather Headlines
By Monday night, the wind will also transport warmer air into New England and bump temperatures to around 60 degrees in southern New England and to the 50s for many of the rest of us, with temperatures likely to reach their warmest sometime near midnight and remain mild into Tuesday morning, even as rain breaks into showers and winds drop below damaging levels after midnight.
Tuesday brings a south to southwest breeze as the storm center pulls north of New England, and while this wind direction usually is a mild one for us, this time around is an exception. The storm will be so wrapped up by that point that cold air that started to the north, wrapped around the western side of the storm, dumping over a foot of snow in northern Ohio, will be carried into New England on the southwest wind, dropping early Tuesday highs around 60s to the 40s by day's end with scattered rain showers from time to time.
The cooler air will be drier Wednesday and Thursday, affording a fair sky in central and southern New England, but mountain snow showers in northern New England, particularly on Wednesday and Wednesday night.
The next widespread chance of showers will be this weekend, as an energetic disturbance approaches aloft from the west, but from this early-week vantage point, it's difficult to nail down precise timing and areal coverage of these showers. But we can say with confidence the entire weekend doesn't look rainy – it's just a matter of figuring out when, if at all, the best chance of showers will be. Either way, cooler air is pronounced at the end of the 10-day forecast.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
