The Enemy...

Tuesday June 23, 2009 05:21 AM

Tuesday AM Update: Not a tough forecast today...well tough to take but not tough to make.

The same strong low pressure area continues to spin in place south and east of Cape Cod, keeping us locked in with clouds, gusty onshore winds and episodes of showers and drizzle.

Though we haven't seen too much rain - generally on the order of .3 to .5 inches thus far - we have certainly witnessed our fair share of wind. On Monday, winds across the Cape were frequently sustained at speeds over 30 mph with numerous gusts past 40 mph. In fact, Nantucket gusted to 50 mph at one point. Certainly unusual weather for late June!

Well the good news is, we've reached rock bottom. And though it will be a slow climb out of this hole, we will climb out. Wednesday will still feature lots of clouds and pockets of mist and drizzle, but winds will die off and slightly milder temperatures will develop. Bigger improvement comes Thursday as the storm finally loses its grip on our weather and milder and, more importantly, sunnier weather begins to take hold.

Monday's Forecast: An unusually large and strong coastal storm - given the time of year - has formed south of Cape Cod. The circulation associated with this gale center extends from Nova Scotia all the way to the Bahamas. This low pressure center is nearly stationary, pinwheeling in place about 200 or so miles southeast of Chatham. It will only slowly drift northward through mid-week, before finally lifting out on Thursday.

While most of the storm's affects are not being felt on land, we here on Cape Cod are not so lucky. We are paying the price for one of the Cape's greatest attributes - sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Cod is the closest landmass to the storm's center and therefore is feeling the greatest effects from the offshore low pressure area, including strong northeast winds, periodic showers and drizzle and very chilly conditions.

While we have yet to see much in the way of rain, energy rotating around the offshore storm looks to pass near the region today, enhancing our chances for showers. In addition, winds will remain gusty right through Tuesday and the strongest core of wind looks to pass over Cape Cod later today. As a result, a Wind Advisory remains in place.