Northeaster expected to bring wet, wild weather

"Brisk winds will begin Thursday night, with temperatures in the mid-30s overnight," Foley said. "Temperatures will hold steady throughout the weekend in the upper 40s, with lower 40s expected at night."

For comparison, the average mid-October temperature in Boston is in the low 60s. In other words, temperatures this weekend will be more suited to Thanksgiving than two weeks before Halloween.

An inch of rain is expected from the storm when all is said and done. Foley said the big feature of this northeaster will be the winds, especially along the coast.

"There's a possibility of wind gusts in the metropolitan area of 35 to 45 miles per hour," Foley said. "It'll be even stronger on the Cape and islands, where it could be 45 to 55 miles per hour."

The combination of rain and wind could wreak havoc on the trees, which still have full branches of leaves. That raises the potential for downed branches and power outages, Foley said.

And the snow, the most dreaded component of the winter northeaster?

"The snow wouldn't be anything plowable," Foley said. "Higher elevations inland will see wet snow mixed with rain, especially in the Worcester hills region and northern Rhode Island."

Foley said the storm will coincide with astronomical high tides , which may lead to a high possibility of flooding on east-facing coasts.

Is there any silver lining to this storm? Not really.

"We're just looking at a miserable wet, windy, cool, raw weekend," Foley said.