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Tracking Isaias: Strong Winds Could Cause Downed Trees, Outages In Massachusetts

BOSTON (CBS) – There is no denying that Monday morning got off to a sticky start. Dew points across southern New England started near 75 degrees - a tropical airmass ahead of Tropical Storm Isaias. A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for Southern New England as preparation for this storm.

tropical warning
(WBZ graphic)

This storm has quite a long runway ahead of it with a plethora of impacts up and down the eastern seaboard. As of Monday morning, the system remained roughly 100 miles off the coast of Florida.

The 5 a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center registered the maximum sustained winds at 70 mph keeping it at "tropical storm" strength. The storm will have plenty of fuel to work with on Monday as it churns and intensifies over very warm ocean water.

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It will likely reach Category 1 strength (74 mph max sustained winds) over the next 18 hours before officially making landfall towards the South-North Carolina border.

Isaias is a fast moving system and will rapidly move north on Tuesday. The latest track, which has followed the trend of previous information, has slipped a bit west.

Track
(WBZ-TV Graphic)

This will make for less of an impact in central and eastern Massachusetts, however, we're not totally out of the woods.

RAIN

The first showers from this system will reach southern New England at some point Tuesday morning but the strongest signals will arrive after lunchtime. Abou 2-4" will likely be recorded for the Berkshires with a dramatic drop off from the Worcester Hills to coastal locations.

rain
(WBZ-TV Graphic)

Between 0.25-0.5" is expected in central MA while lower values will likely be recorded for those by the water. Regardless of the storm's totals, a stray storm could produce localized flooding.

WIND

This will be a strong wind event with damaging gusts expected. Sustained winds will likely exceed 30 mph with gusts from 45-60 mph.

wind
(WBZ-TV Graphic)

The core of the wind energy will remain west of Worcester County, but the wind field (yellow area) will expand 100-125 miles out. That means downed trees, down limbs, outages, and other damage could be reported as far as Cape Cod.

SURF

Astronomical high tide combined with slight storm surge may produce some beach erosion or shoreline road flooding. Large surf expected offshore.

We will closely monitor Isaias over the next 24 hours. Stay with the Storm Watch Team for the latest information.

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