Nor'easter Bringing Damaging Winds, Rain, Coastal Flooding, Snow, Ice

Linda Lam
Published: January 24,2017
A Nor'easter will finish up in the Northeast on Tuesday with a mix of snow, ice, rain and high winds. Unlike many late-January Nor'easters, however, snow is expected to be rather meager.
(NEWS: Nor'easter Hammers Mid-Atlantic, Northeast)
Snow is now falling from parts of northern Pennsylvania into central and upstate New York and parts of New England.
As of Tuesday morning, 1 to 3 inches of snow have accumulated in parts of Connecticut, central and western Massachusetts, and central Pennsylvania. Amazingly, 3.5 inches of sleet accumulated in Dutchess County, New York.
Winds gusting from 40 to 50 mph have been clocked at Boston's Logan Airport, as well as on Cape Cod. Winds have downed trees and wires in parts of southern New England and Long Island overnight.

Current Radar, Temperatures, Conditions

Modestly strong low-pressure system will track near the New England coast, then into the Canadian Maritimes by Wednesday.
The combination of the system's track close to the coast and the lack of cold air in place will limit the amount of wintry precipitation along and near the Interstate 95 Northeast corridor.
However, high pressure to the north has kept some sufficiently cold air in place over the interior Northeast and parts of New England, setting the stage for snow mixed with sleet and freezing rain, at times.
A mix of winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories are in effect for parts of the Northeast.
(MORE: Winter Storm Central)

Current winter watches, warnings and advisories

First, let's break down the Nor'easter's timeline. Then we'll touch on how much rain, wind, snow and ice are forecast.

Tuesday

• Areas of rain may persist in parts of southern New England.
• Locally heavy snow will shift into upstate New York and northern New England, but should eventually mix with or changeover to sleet or freezing rain.
• Winds will decrease through the day, but it will remain gusty, at times, in eastern New England and in an offshore direction near the mid-Atlantic coast.
• Forecast: Buffalo, New York | Boston | Caribou, Maine

Tuesday's Forecast

Forecast Impacts

High Winds

Below is a general timeline of forecast sustained winds for several cities. Some wind gusts over 50 mph are possible in parts of eastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Island early Tuesday.
Downed trees, power lines, and scattered to numerous power outages are expected in areas with the strongest winds.

Wind Gust Forecast

Snow/Ice

Parts of central and upstate New York into northern New England may see another 6 inches of snow. In far northern Maine, snowfall totals may surpass 12 inches. This snow will be of the heavy, wet and high-impact variety.
Some ice accumulation is also expected in these areas, which will at least make most roads slick for a time. While widespread, damaging accumulations are not expected, stronger winds may trigger power outages in areas with accumulated snow or ice on trees and power lines.

Rain and Snow Forecast

Storm Reports

Through Tuesday, there were 65 reports of damage from strong winds in the Northeast from this nor'easter, mainly in southern New England.
(INTERACTIVE: Storm Report Map)
Winds gusted to 63 mph Monday afternoon in Cape May, New Jersey, and Slaughter Beach, Delaware.
In north Philadelphia, high winds knocked a sign off a wall Monday afternoon, which ended up killing a man in the Hunting Park neighborhood.
Coastal flooding was observed along the Delaware Beaches, Jersey Shore and parts of Long Island, including Atlantic City, Ocean City and North Wildwood in New Jersey and Dewey Beach in Delaware.
This prompted closures of some roadways in these areas, including Delaware Route 1 south of Dewey Beach, New Jersey Route 35 in Belmar and the southbound lanes of the Wantagh State Parkway at the Bay Parkway Bridge east of Point Lookout, New York.
Strong onshore winds pushed waves over the seawall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and widespread dune erosion occurred in parts of the Jersey Shore Monday.

This Isn't What You'd Expect in Late January

Snow lovers typically rejoice when a strong low-pressure system tracks off the Northeast coast in late January. However, this year is unusual in that not much snow is expected with this upcoming Nor'easter.
The lack of snow is due to the upper-level pattern and the track of the surface low-pressure system. The result will be a rain event along the coast and a mix of wintry precipitation, at times, farther inland.

People begin to venture out to assess the damage after Winter Storm Jonas dropped nearly 30 inches of snow in Baltimore, MD on Sunday, January 24, 2016.
(Shawn Hubbard/weather.com)

This is a much different situation than what happened last year at this time. Winter Storm Jonas buried a large portion of the Northeast urban corridor with more than 2 feet of snow from the Washington D.C. area to New York City, from Jan. 22 to Jan. 24, 2016.
(MORE: 5 Most Impressive Things About Winter Storm Jonas)
Snowfall rates of up to 3 inches of snow an hour were observed, at times, during the peak of Jonas, and New York City set a new record for heaviest snowstorm with 27.5 inches of snow measured.
This impressive storm stranded thousands of travelers and a quarter-million customers lost power during the storm.
Two years ago, Winter Storm Juno impacted portions of the Northeast with heavy snow, strong winds and coastal flooding from Jan. 26 to Jan. 28, 2015.
(MORE: Winter Storm Juno Recap)
New England was particularly hard-hit, with blizzard conditions reported in areas of eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. At least one person died as a result of the storm.
Although late January can see significant and impactful snowstorms in the Northeast, this does not appear to be the case this year.

MORE: Winter Storm Jonas - January 2016