Nor'easter dumps up to 3.5" in RI

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI/AP) - A spring Nor'easter is slowly moving out of Southern New England Monday, but not before dumping several inches of rain on the drought stricken region.

As of 11:30 a.m., the National Weather Service had lifted the flood and wind advisories that were in effect for the area.

According to Eyewitness News Meteorologist Michelle Muscatello, the storm dumped as much as 3.5 inches of rain in Rhode Island. Welcomed news for an area that's been dealing with drought and a threat of brush fires for most of the month.

• Related: Today's Weather Discussion
• Gallery: Nor'easter Bring Surpise Snowstorm

Muscatello said smaller rivers and streams will be running high most of Monday, but otherwise there was no other significant damage with this storm.

At one point, more than 2,000 National Grid customers in Charlestown and Westerly also lost power temporarily . Utility spokesman David Graves said the outage occurred after an insulator where two wires come together failed.

Power was restored at 8:30 a.m. Monday.

It's the most rain the area has seen in 2012, and could help ease the local drought concerns.

Overnight Sunday, Exit 27 in Pawtucket was closed for a bit due to some flooding. But, by 5 a.m. Monday it had re-opened.

The Sunday storm caused plenty of disruptions. Major League Baseball postponed games in Boston, New York and Washington. The scheduled arrival of the space shuttle Enterprise in New York City was pushed back, and an Earth Day celebration at a park in Virginia Beach, Va., was canceled.

Some areas farther north actually got some snow.