Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Northeast hunkers down as storm moves in
BOSTON — A nor’easter barreled up the U.S. coast Tuesday, and forecasters warned that it could produce flooding, hurricane-force wind gusts and widespread power outages in New England.
That comes on the heels of a powerful atmospheric river storm that just swept through California, setting rainfall records and helping douse wildfires.
The worst of the storm in the Northeast was expected to lash the region late Tuesday through this morning.
Wind gusts as high as 75 mph were forecast on Cape Cod, with sustained winds as high as 45 mph. The National Weather Service warned that waves off the Massachusetts coast could reach 19 feet.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority suspended its ferry service Tuesday and today. In Salem, which hosts one of the nation’s largest Halloween festivals through October, the town canceled ferry service to Boston, urging visitors to take commuter trains instead.
The early nor’easter arrived before many trees had shed their leaves for the winter, raising the risk of power outages as branches covered in wet, heavy leaves blew onto transmission lines. Eversource, a power company that serves much of New England, warned that widespread outages were possible through today.
In New Bedford, a covid-19 testing operation closed early because of the storm, and residents were urged to secure outdoor furniture and take pets inside.
Flash flood warnings remained in effect through Tuesday evening in southern Connecticut, northeastern New Jersey and southeastern New York, along with high-wind warnings from New York to Massachusetts.
The storm disrupted travel plans for some, like Pat Clarke, of Plymouth, Mass.
“When we heard about the weather, we changed our minds and thought we’d better get home,” Clarke told NBC Boston. “There will be a lot of wind, rain and streets flooded, and trees down, so here we are.”
CALIFORNIA STORM
Meanwhile, it remained to be seen how much of a dent California’s storm made in the state’s drought.
The weather system weakened as it moved south but still dropped enough rain Monday evening to cause mudslides that closed roads in the San Bernardino Mountains northeast of Los Angeles.
The atmospheric river storm, a long and wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific, came ashore in Northern California over the weekend.
Drenching rains caused widespread flooding and rock slides. Strong winds knocked down trees and toppled two big trucks on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge near San Francisco. Pacific Gas & Electric reported that 646,000 homes and businesses lost power, though most had it back by Monday.
By early Tuesday, light rain and snow were still falling in northern parts of California, and the lone remaining flood warning was in Sonoma County north of San Francisco, where stream levels were slow to fall.
Despite the problems, the rain and mountain snow were welcome in Northern California, which is so dry that nearly all of it is classified as either experiencing extreme or exceptional drought.
The wet weather also greatly reduces the chances of additional wildfires in a region that has borne the brunt of another devastating year of blazes in the state.
The weather service called preliminary rainfall totals from the storm “staggering.” Four inches fell Sunday in downtown San Francisco, making it the fourth-wettest day on record.
Northeast of San Francisco, 5.44 inches fell on downtown Sacramento, shattering the oneday record for rainfall that had stood since 1880.
Along the state’s central coast, nearly 5.4 inches was recorded at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo County. In Southern California, 1.1 inches fell in Beverly Hills.