Afternoon Update 3:30 p.m.

I’ll leave the latest blog post up underneath this update. Joaquin continues to hit the central Bahamas very hard and will likely cause some catastrophic damage to some of those islands.

You’ll also hear about incredible rainfall amounts across the Carolina’s. This isn’t part of Joaquin, but a rather a train of moisture being forced into the southeast north of the storm. There’s a nor’easter that is bringing the foul weather to that part of the Atlantic seaboard. Rainfall amounts could near a foot of rain in some areas and this will create a major flooding situation in that part of the country.

The latest American models have now come in line with the earlier thinking of the European models that Joaquin would not hit the United States mainland. While not impossible the situation changes, it’s becoming highly likely the storm will only create some big waves for the coast and not become a major hurricane which impacts the mainland. Stay tuned on Twitter @growingwisdom for any updates as well.

Morning Blog 7 a.m.
Another record amount of precipitation fell yesterday in southern Maine with Portland receiving a whopping 5.63 inches of rain making it the 6th wettest day on record. Just over a year ago, on August 14th 2014, 6.43 inches of rain fell for the 5th wettest day. I can still remember vividly the wettest day on record, that was Oct. 21, 1996, when 11.74 inches were recorded at the Portland International Jetport. It was my Nana’s funeral and you don’t forget weather like that on a day like that.

This morning we find ourselves in a new air mass of cooler and certainly less humid air. The air cool air may eventually become cool enough so some of you put the heat on for the first time this year tomorrow or Saturday morning. I try to wait until the temperature inside the house stays under 60 degrees for a full day before the heat is used.

The cold front which went by the area yesterday is stalled to the south and east of the region this morning. This front will be the focal point for moisture, but it should stay to the south of the area. I do think some clouds will be evident, especially along the coastline tomorrow.

There will be a breeze out of the northeast keeping it feeling quite chilly. At high tide, because the tides are already running high, there might be a bit of splash over, but nothing more.
The weekend is looking dry and cool as high pressure passes by to our north. Saturday features abundant sunshine and it will be a great day to get outside and enjoy the many activities fall has to offer. Although there will be a few more clouds on Sunday I still expect some sunshine and typically cool early October readings.

Joaquin
The official track of the storm comes from the National Hurricane Center and has the storm moving along the coast this weekend and then potentially coming onshore near the mid-Atlantic or even from New York to southern New England. This is certainly possible.

The models used to forecast the storm are still in disagreement. The European model continues to forecast this storm to move very slowly over the next few days and then wait until the upper level winds become configured such they take it out to sea.

It would be irresponsible of me to say the storm is definitely going out to sea and not to worry about it. There is a chance this storm could make landfall from the mid-Atlantic to southern New England. Yet, I do put a lot of weight in the European model’s forecast and would weigh the chance this never makes landfall higher.

According to the Euro, the storm will linger to the south near the Bahamas long enough for the upper winds to eventually capture it and pull it out to sea. Ironically, the longer the storm stays south, the better chance it never impacts the United States. If we did see some rain or wind from the storm it would be early next week. Stay tuned to latest forecasts. I wouldn’t take any action yet with regard to this storm.