Hello everyone!

Today will feature the return of some rain as a strong cold front approaches from the west and low pressure rapidly develops in the Gulf of Maine. The first round of showers we’ll get is from a little disturbance moving north well ahead of the front, which is back over Ohio as I write this around 6 AM. This first round of showers will be focused along the coast northeast of Portland as well as parts of the foothills northeast of Bridgton. The steadiest rain will be found along the Midcoast where it may rain just about all day. Temps this morning are cold enough over the foothills that the first little bit of precip may fall as snow, sleet or freezing rain for a brief time. No accumulation is expected.

West of this initial batch of rain, dry conditions will prevail until this afternoon when the cold front begins to approach from the west. Rain should arrive in southwestern NH around 4 PM before moving quickly northeast into southern Maine by 5-6 PM. Rain will continue falling steadily through the evening and may culminate in a brief period of heavy rain as remnant thunderstorms move in from New York. Winds during this time will be breezy from the south but I don’t see any major power outage issues as most of us should remain below 30-35 mph. Temps during this time will gradually rise into the mid/upper 30s up north and the mid/upper 40s closer to the coast.

Power outage issues are much more likely tomorrow as low pressure rapidly develops in the Gulf of Maine and blustery west/northwesterly winds develop in response. A period of heavy snow is possible tomorrow morning as this storm ramps up. Right now it looks like spots northeast of Augusta have the best odds at seeing this band, but we’ll be watching closely to see where exactly it sets up. More details on that in tomorrow morning’s update.

-Jack