Nor'easter to bring snow/sleet/rain/strong winds/coastal flooding 11/7-11/8

We are a little more than a week removed from the devastating impacts Hurricane Sandy left behind and unfortunately it appears much of the Northeast will be impacted by a strong coastal storm.  Thankfully, this system will be nothing similar to that of Sandy, however, this storm will present issues, especially along the coastal plain from NJ up through SNE where strong/damaging winds will occur along with more coastal flooding and for the areas that were severely impacted from Sandy this is the last thing they need.

This will be a very challenging forecast as this system will not only be presenting us with rain but with snowfall/sleet and perhaps even some freezing rain as well and pining down who exactly sees snow and how much will be real difficult.  There were be alot of impacts from this storm so let's get right to it and break it all down!

Snowfall

Over the past few days computer forecast models have trended colder, and colder with the airmass preceding the storm and for a duration of the storm and with this much of the region with the exception of the coastal plain will receive minor accumulations of snowfall with the highest totals occurring across the Northwest Hills of CT into the Berkshires of MA.  It's also possible many locations within the snow zone will mix with sleet or even completely change over to sleet at some point during the storm and there could be some pockets of freezing rain as well.  The snow will be very wet and heavy meaning it will cling to trees/power lines.  While accumulations are expected to be on the lower side, we will still deal with some  pockets of tree damage and power outages, especially when combined with the potential for strong winds...more on this below.

Rainfall

While much of the coastal Plain will be mostly rain some mixing or brief periods of snow is possible across some of these locations.  Rainfall amounts should generally be in the 0.50'' to 1.50'' range and with this the threat for flash flooding will be on the lower side, however, the normal typical flood prone areas could see pockets of flooding.

Damaging Winds

Winds will be the biggest issue right along the coastal plain from NJ up through southern CT/southern RI and right into far SE MA.  Across these areas winds will be sustained anywhere from 25-35 mph with wind gusts as high as 60 mph.  Across far inland areas winds aren't expected to be this strong but they may gust as high as 30-40 mph.  With the forecast for strong winds this will lead to pockets of tree damage/power outages, especially across the coastal Plain..more on this below.

Power Outages:

Across inland locations where minor accumulations of wet snow are expected along with gusty winds there will be pockets of tree damages and power outage but nowhere near to the degree that we experienced with Sandy.  Across the coastal Plain where winds are expected to be much stronger power outages will be more on the scattered side than isolated side and this is certainly not good news at all for the restoration process in areas still experiencing outages and issues from Sandy.

Coastal Flooding

Coastal flooding is once again expected from NJ up through coastal CT/RI/SE MA as higher than normal tides will coincide with the height of the storm leading to high storm surge...storm surge in spots can be anywhere from 4-6' which is terrible for the areas that were heavily damaged/destroyed by Sandy.

Precip will begin across NJ/NYC area overnight tonight and slowly spread northward into southern New England by early to mid afternoon.  The heaviest of the precip is expected to occur within a window of about  6-8 hours then the system is expected to weaken which will decrease precipitation rates.  While the storm will be a slow mover and stall this will allow precip to occur on and off into much of Thursday.  Below is a map with snowfall amounts as well as other impacts expected with the storm: