Kyle to bring area a soaking
Expected to pass east of Nantucket
Kyle could be the first hurricane to hit New England this season, but the storm's local effects will be limited to giving the region a good soaking, forecasters said yesterday.
The 11th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Kyle was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane with a possible landfall on Maine's northernmost coast.
The storm picked up speed last night and was expected to pass to the east of Nantucket about 3 a.m.
"It's whizzing by," said Glenn Field, a meterologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton. "By early afternoon, it will be well into the Gulf of Maine."
Kyle had measured windspeeds of 75 miles per hour yesterday, but will probably weaken by the time it is due to hit land shortly before midnight tonight, he said.
Field said it was a toss-up whether the storm would come ashore in Maine or New Brunswick.
"If it moves left by 10 miles, it will hit" in the United States, Field said last night. "If it stays on track, it will be in Canada. It's a little too close to call."
The Coast Guard tracked merchant vessels traveling in waters from New Jersey to Canada yesterday, Petty Officer Zack Zubricki said.
"We wanted to make sure they weren't in harm's way," he said.
Two helicopters have also been readied to respond to emergency search and rescue calls, he said.
Heavy bands of rain that have pummeled parts of Massachusetts since Friday prompted the weather service to issue a flood watch for Bristol County and parts of Norfolk and Plymouth counties. The heaviest rain is expected to hit the South Shore to Martha's Vineyard until midmorning today, Field said.
A flood warning for Worcester County was lifted.
Rain is expected to continue in Greater Boston through this morning before tapering off.
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com. 