High Wind & Storm Warnings
A High Wind Warning is up for all of southern New England tonight. Southerly winds will increase to 25-35 mph, with gusts of 50-60 mph during the predawn hours. I expect the highest gusts to occur between about 2 AM & 6 AM in CT. The wind speed just 4000 feet above the ground could reach 115 mph shortly before dawn! That’s a little disconcerting. A heavy enough shower or thunderstorm might be capable of pulling down enough of that momentum to make for a higher gust than forecast. Even if we stay in the 50-60 mph range with the gusts, some power outages and downed limbs/trees are likely.
As far as rainfall, modeling is currently indicating more than an inch for Litchfield County, where there is a Flood Watch in effect (partially because ice could clog some streams), but some places in CT might not even see an inch. Showers will become more numerous during tonight and a few could be moderate to heavy. Most of the rain will fall between 2 AM-9 AM Thursday. Don’t be surprised if you hear some thunder toward morning. The rain should end by 8-10 AM from west to east across CT, and will be followed by some partial clearing. After starting out above 50, temperatures will crash, reaching the upper 30′s-low 40′s by the end of the day. Cold weather with then stick around into next week.
