A bit of light snow today was the first of several types of weather southern Maine will be experiencing this weekend.  Next up on the menu is more freezing rain, as if we haven’t seen enough of that this winter.  This round of freezing rain will not be major and I am only expecting small amounts of ice accretion before milder air changes the freezing rain to plain rain Saturday. 

 

Once the rain begins, it will come down quite hard and some street flooding can be an issue.  Ice jams could also be a problem on some rivers,  but we won’t know exactly how bad they could be until tomorrow.

 

There is a lot of tropical moisture riding northward into the system.  This means you can expect big puddles on the roads tomorrow evening if you are headed out for a movie or dinner. If you are going to be at the Patriots game, this is one of those games to bring out the waterproof gear.

 

The radar image below shows how things are forecast around 7PM tomorrow.  Notice the heavy pockets of rain just entering New Hampshire and southern Maine..  These areas will continue to pulse northward for the first half of the night bringing copious amounts of rain to the region.  I am forecasting 1 to 2 inches of rain with this system. 

 

 This amount of rain can cause water issues.  Street flooding is almost a definite tomorrow night with the normal susceptible spots likely to flood.  Small streams and basements could also see some issue from the heavy rain tomorrow night.  There is a flood watch up for the area with those ice jams the biggest concern.  If your basement floods during heavy rainfall it might be a prudent idea to check it periodically.  The snow will absorb a lot of the rain, but in areas with less snow cover and frozen ground, the water will run into wherever it can.

 

The air is going to be very mild this weekend.  Once we rise above freezing early Saturday, most areas will say above this mark through the weekend until Sunday evening.  Tomorrow highs will easily reach the 50s and with a gusty southerly flow, it’s going to feel like a wet spring day.

 

 Sunday is my pick for the weekend, which should be somewhat obvious after a soaking Saturday.  Skies will clear early in the morning leaving us with a bright and sunny sky and mild air.  Highs won’t be quite as warm as they will be tomorrow, but still range from 35-42 north to south, not a bad temperature range in mid-January. 

 

I know skiers and winter sports enthusiasts are not welcoming this thaw, but it will help elevate heating bills, if only temporarily.  I don’t see any arctic air returning until later next week.  There are signs the end of January is going to be very cold, more on that in the days to come.

 

I’ll be updating my forecast on Twitter @growingwisdom, please follow me there.

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