Cape and Islands Could See Tropical Storm Conditions From Hermine

Expected path of Hermine as forecast by the National Hurricane Center

HYANNIS – Cape Cod and the Islands are in line for some high winds and heavy rain over the next several days, as Tropical Storm Hermine meanders along the East Coast.

The National Weather Service has issued a Tropical Storm Watch for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, the South Coast and Rhode Island through the Labor Day Weekend.

The storm, described as post-tropical by forecasters, was about 390 miles south-southeast of Nantucket late Saturday night.

It was moving east-northeast at 12 mph, with maximum sustained winds at 70 mph.

But Hermine was expected to slow down and linger off the Mid Atlantic before passing south of Nantucket.

Tropical storm conditions are possible for the Cape and Islands through Wednesday night with the height of the storm conditions Sunday night through Monday.

“We can expect increasing winds tonight with wind gust 30 to 50 mph and this will continue into monday,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Kim Buttrick. “In addition we can expect rain to start blanketing the region later tonight also into Monday.”

The National Weather Service said the storm would bring wind, rough surf, dangerous rip currents and beach erosion to the region.

“The tidal cycle could cause some beach erosion for those south facing beaches of the Vineyard, Nantucket as well as Cape Cod,” Buttrick said.

A surfer walks the beach while looking for waves from the surge of Hurricane Hermine, Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, off the coast of Tybee Island, Ga. Hermine was downgraded to a tropical storm after it made landfall, as it moves over Georgia, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center says winds are increasing along the Southeast coast and flooding rains continue. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Heavy downpours are possible late Sunday night into early next week, but widespread flooding appears unlikely.

Eversource, with provides electricity to the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard, and National Grid, which provides power to Nantucket, were both monitoring the storm for possible outages once the wind and rain arrives.

On the waters, a 1 to 2 foot surge is possible among the south coast of Massachusetts. A slightly higher surge is possible in Rhode Island.

“[The storm surge] is expected to continue over the next couple of days because of the persistence of Hermine kind of circling just south of our region,” Buttrick said.

Ferry service between the Cape and Islands was being impacted by the storm, even as it lingered far off-shore.

The Steamship Authority posted a statement on its website that said they were anticipating possible cancellations as early as late Sunday afternoon on the Hyannis-Nantucket route and possibly before the end of its scheduled operating day on Sunday for the Woods Hole-Martha’s Vineyard route due to the impacts of Hermine.

The HyLine already cancelled service between Hyannis and Martha’s Vineyard and inter-island service between the Vineyard and Nantucket for Sunday and Monday.

The Steamship Authority has canceled high speed service between Hyannis and Nantucket Sunday due to a mechanical issue.

Both boat lines urge passengers to check with their respective website for updates.

The main impacts from the storm are expected in the Mid-Atlantic states. The impacts will be less for Cape Cod and the Islands.

Buttrick recommends visitors on the Cape and Islands use caution but said conditions should not cause people to flee.

“They can just hunker down and enjoy some wind, some rain, some family time and friendship,” she said.

By MATT PITTA & BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter