Southeastern Massachusetts Magazine

Tropical Storm Isaias is coming to town, but our part of the state is only going to get a glancing blow. We do have a Tropical Storm Warning in effect from the National Weather Service.  We are going to be on the east side of the storm as it passes, and our chief threat from this is wind. Winds could gust up to 50 mph or so. Coastal flooding looks to be minor, although if it happens, it will probably be on the South Coast. The time to watch is tonight's high tide, about 9:30 PM in places like Westport and Little Compton. The moon was full on Monday night. We could get some downpours, but we aren't expected to pick up a lot of rain from this. There is a tornado threat, as is often the case with tropical systems. The winds should gain strength this afternoon, and the rain should come around dark. It peaks for us overnight, and should be mostly spent for us by Wednesday morning. We'll have some people out checking the surf, and we'll either post from wherever we are or go...

The National Weather Service has issued a Tropical Storm Watch for Massachusetts. A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are expected within 48 hours. Tropical Storm Isaias is expected to take a more western /nland track, which will lower the potential impact. We will get less rain, less wind, less ocean action.  The place to be for waves looks to be the South Coast. We have plans to be all over Westport, and this storm may be a case where we incorporate Little Compton into Massachusetts for photographic reasons. There is an astrologically high tide (full moon is Monday night), and the worst tide with this storm looks to be very early Wednesday morning. We'll be back with further information.