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Writer's pictureTim Dennis

Storm Slowly Exits, Creates Large Temperature Gradient

Precipitation in southern New England will end from west to east as the morning transitions to the afternoon. Models are currently showing that the afternoon and evening will be dry for most areas of southern New England. Rainfall was pretty much as expected across the region, with steady and at times heavy rain bringing one inch plus amounts to the region.

The biggest question in this storm was winds across the south coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Over the last couple days, the wind threat had been increasing, with models hinting at potential 55 plus mile an hour winds over Cape Cod. Because of this, the NWS posted a wind advisory at the last moment for this area. This morning (1/13), the advisory area shrank strictly to Cape Cod and the islands. This advisory will remain in effect until 2pm, as gusts to 45mph are still possible. 45mph is just under what is needed to start causing tree damage in most cases. As far as the wind situation, the NWS states:

"For a variety of factors, including a slow to budge cold front that kept warmer surface temperatures restricted further southeast, and difficulty mixing out the low level inversion, winds overnight underachieved compared to previous forecast by about 11mph; with gusts to about 40mph isolated to convective cells. Both overnight trends and BUFKIT soundings showing sub advisory wind gusts mixing to the surface influenced our decision contract the Wind Advisory this morning where isolated gusts to 46mph are still possible across SE MA and RI through 10-11am."

An interesting part of this storm has been the temperature gradient that developed across New England overnight and into this morning. The warm front attached to this storm has been slower to advance through New England than initially forecast. This has led to a rather intense gradient. The NWS states:

"While the warm front has be slow to lift across New England, still anticipating that most if not all localities will warm into the upper 40s thru upper 50s. In fact, as of 3 am, downtown Hartford, CT had already recorded a temp of 59F degrees; Windsor Locks was just 39F at the same hour."

Across northern New England, rainfall was similar to what southern New England saw, with steady and heavy rain enveloping the region. Rain will be slower to shut off than in southern New England. All areas that experienced snow and mixing overnight is expected to switch over to rain for today. Up to a half inch of additional rain is possible today across western Maine. A flood watch remains in effect for coastal and eastern Maine. Winds will be gusty along the Maine coast, but remain below damage levels.

The temperature gradient is also noted by the Gray, Maine office of the NWS. They state:

"Interesting spread of temperatures, particularly along coastal SW Maine as PWM dropped from 48 degrees to 37 degrees over the past couple of hours. However, the theme is that much of the area has warmed above freezing with the threat of additional snow and ice ending for the morning."

Temperatures as of 10am January 13, 2023

A winter storm warning remains in effect for northern Maine, although the warning has been shrunk further north. The NWS states:

"Cancelled the Winter Storm Warning for Central Piscatiquis County as temperatures are above freezing in most of the zone. Otherwise, no changes to headlines. Sleet is approaching Caribou, with snow remaining the predominate p-type north of there at this time."

6-12 inches of snow is expected across far northern Maine. The winter storm warning remains in effect until 10pm. Stay with NESC for continued coverage of this storm.

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