Heavy Rain & Strong Wind To End The Week

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - High pressure will bring us another nice day today. We’ll see a mix of sun and clouds with highs in the 30s to near 40°. Skies will be partly cloudy tonight with lows dropping to the teens to low 20s.

High pressure will slide to our east Thursday. We’ll see clouds ahead of our next storm system moving in as the day progresses. Highs on Thursday will reach the 30s for most. Our focus then turns to a strong storm system moving through the Midwest Thursday. As a result, we have issued a FIRST ALERT for the entire state for Friday. This storm is forecast to move northward through the Great Lakes Region, passing west of New England on Friday and Friday night. This western track means that we will be on the warmer side of the storm which, in turn, means that we’re likely to see mostly rain from this system, however, temperatures will be cold enough at the onset of precipitation, later Thursday night or early Friday morning, so that we see a period of snow or mixed precipitation before transitioning to all rain from south to north across the state Friday as strong southerly winds usher a warmer airmass northward into the region. Temperatures are forecast to climb into the 40s to around 50° during the afternoon and evening hours Friday. Early estimates show the potential of 1″-3″ of rain by early Saturday morning, with the heaviest rain falling Friday afternoon through the first half of Friday night. That amount of rain combined with melting snow will likely lead to some flooding issues especially on the roads where storm drains may be clogged with snow and ice. The other concern with this storm is the potential for very strong winds as well. As the storm moves through the Great Lakes Region, there will be strong high pressure to our east. This will cause the pressure gradient to become very tight across the area, leading to a strong, gusty southeasterly wind. There’s the potential for winds to gust to 60-70 MPH from late Friday morning through the evening hours, with the strongest winds blowing across areas closer to, and along, the coast. Power outages are likely and could be widespread. Stay tuned as we continue to update this as the storm approaches.

The storm will exit the area Saturday. On the backside of the storm, we will continue to see a gusty breeze which will usher much colder air into the region. We’ll go from highs in the 40s and 50s Friday to highs in the 20s Saturday and feeling colder with the wind chill. If you have travel plans early Saturday, be careful as we could see icy road conditions due to lingering moisture on the roads from Friday’s rainfall and temperatures quickly falling below freezing Friday night and early Saturday morning. Overall, we’ll see a better day Saturday with a mix of sun and clouds to start the weekend. High pressure will build in for Sunday giving us a nice Christmas Day with a mix of sun and clouds and highs in the 20s to near 30°.

Today: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the 30s. Light and variable wind.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows between 19°-26°. Light and variable wind.

Thursday: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the 30s. Light and variable wind.

Friday: Morning snow and mix changing to rain from south to north. Rain could be heavy at times during the afternoon and evening. Very windy. Warmer with highs in the 40s to near 50°. Winds could gust to 60 MPH for most of the state, up to 70 MPH though for coastal areas.

Saturday: Mix of sun and clouds. Breezy and colder. Highs in the 20s to around 30°.

Christmas Day: Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the 20 to near 30°.

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