Frightful "Noel" to Affect Southern New England?

Satellite image of tropical storm Noel, located to the SE of Florida. The bright green indicates very high and cold cloud tops associated with strong convection. Click to enlarge.

Some of the computer models have put tropical storm Noel, in an altered "extra-tropical" form off the SE coast of Massachusetts near Saturday. The above is a current worst case scenario. Click to enlarge.

Jack O Lanterns react to the news that tropical storm Noel could brush Southern New England later this week..... however the center of the storm should remain out to sea.

Happy Halloween!

Although 10/31 officially marks the end of the Atlantic tropical season, we have a horrific entity in the Carribean Sea which has already killed 60+ people and could intensify slightly over the next few days. It's name - Noel.

A TROPICAL STORM WATCH has been issued for parts of SE Florida coastal waters as the storm meanders towards the N-NW, although it does not look to make landfall over the US. The storm is currently packing sustained winds of 60 mph.

After bypassing Florida, the storm will work NE and out to sea, making it's closest pass at us on Saturday as an extratropical storm (a storm that is no longer tropical). The biggest effect we will see from Noel would be increasing NE winds Friday night and Saturday, especially along the coast, as well as the Cape and Islands. We may see some low clouds,winds,and showers working inland from the storm, but a direct landfalling event is EXTREMELY UNLIKELY. High pressure should give us enough protection to keep this one out to sea. Deviations in the track of the storm could change impacts felt in New England, and we'll be keeping an eye on this one-So don't fret!

Aside from our brush with the fringes of Noel, our weather is rather uneventful for the forecast period. A cold front will work through the region tomorrow night ushering in some cooler air for Friday. As previously mentioned, the outer fringes of Noel could affect us for Saturday, although it won't be any sort of big event.

Check out the detailed forecast below, and

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Lowell Regional Forecast:

Halloween Night: Eerily Warm, with a chance of ghouls and goblins passing in the night - or just seeking candy. Otherwise, partly cloudy with a ghastly low near 48.

Thursday: Increasing cloudiness and warm. Could see a stray shower by afternoon. High 65.

Thursday Night: Clouds will scour out as a cold front passes to our east. Becoming chilly, with early morning lows near 34.

Friday: Sunny and cooler. High 54.

Saturday: Becoming cloudy. Winds pick up out of the NE, especially along the coast (15-30 mph) and we could see showers as Noel passes well to our east. High near 56.

Extended Outlook

Sunday: Becoming mostly sunny. High 53.

Monday: Partly Cloudy. Highs in the low 50s.

For WUML Lowell 91.5 FM this is Umass Lowell student meteorologist and WUML weather director John Webster.

Have a "Horrific" Halloween Everyone!