Hurricane Nicole made landfall near Vero Beach, Florida this morning as a Category 1 hurricane. This is only the second time on record a hurricane has made landfall in the month of November. It’s also the latest November hurricane to hit the continental United States except for Hurricane Kate in 1985, which was November 21.
The rain and wind with the storm will quickly move up the eastern seaboard as we end the workweek and start the weekend. As Nicole undergoes its transition to post-tropical cyclone, the storm will merge with a cold front and bring tropical rains to Maine Friday into Saturday.
Here’s what you need to know about Nicole:
Clouds will quickly be on the increase Thursday night as the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Nicole move up the east coast. Rain moves into western Maine after sunset on Friday and will be heavy at times overnight, especially in the favored upslope areas of the mountains. Flooding could be an issue during the overnight hours into Saturday.
Look for the rain to end west to east during the day Saturday, with only a few rain or snow showers on the backside of the storm for the western mountains. When it’s all said and done, I expect a general 1 to 2 inches of rain accumulation for the entire state of Maine with locally heavier amounts.
I do not expect wind to be a major issue with this storm and widespread power outages are not in the forecast. However, it will be windy, with gusts up to 45 mph so scattered outages are possible. Most of the leaves are off the trees so this is not going to be a big issue, but it will be quite breezy.
A gale watch is up for the coast with up to and more than 10-foot seas in the forecast and wind gusts of more than 35 knots. Down east Maine will see the worst of the high seas where more than 10 feet is possible.
The sky clears for the rest of the weekend and we get relatively mild temps to close out the weekend before things cool down in a big way next week.
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