Wilma Will Affect New England

From Jeff Masters Wonderblog [excerpts; emphasis added]

Posted by: JeffMasters
Wilma continues to confound forecasters, and has intensified once more into a Category 3 hurricane with 125 mph winds, despite wind shear levels that would normally barely support a hurricane. In fact, Wilma is close to Category 4 status--the 5 pm hurricane hunter flight found winds at 10,000 feet of 157 mph, which normally translates to a surface wind of 140 mph--Category 4 winds.

Wilma is over the Gulf Stream, which has warm water temperatures of 28 C capable of supporting a major hurricane. Wilma is racing northeast at 40 mph away from Florida, but is still bringing tropical storm force wind gusts to both the east and west coasts of Florida. A wind gust of 39 mph was measured at Naples at 4 pm EDT today.

North Carolina
Wilma will race northeastward off the coast, but spare North Carolina her fury. Only 20 - 30 mph winds are expected on the Outer Banks tonight, and the moderate rain now falling across eatern North Carolina will end by 4 am Tuesday.

New England
On Tuesday, Wilma will dramatically affect New England's weather. A separate powerful Nor'easter storm will develop next to the coast of New England on Tuesday, and moisture feeding back from Wilma into the Nor'easter will drench much of Rhode Island, southeast Massachusetts, and surrounding areas with 2 - 4 inches of rain. Winds from the combined Nor'easter/Wilma storm will reach sustained levels of 40 - 50 mph over the waters near Cape Cod, and bring wind gusts of 50 mph to New York City, Providence, and Boston. A storm surge of 1 - 3 feet with 20 foot waves is expected to cause moderate flooding along the coast of southeast Massachusetts.

As Wilma continues northeast on Wednesday, New Brunswick and Newfoundland will experience tropical storm force winds, heavy rain, and coastal flooding.

Alpha
Alpha is no more, destroyed by big sister Wilma's strong winds. In Haiti, eight are dead from flooding and mudslides triggered by Alpha's 4 - 8 inches of rain. At least 400 homes were destroyed, and twenty-three people have been reported missing, including 19 who were swept away by floodwaters in the town of Leogane, west of the capital. Three people are missing from floods in the neighboring Dominican Republic.