A nor'easter is blowing in, with the bulk of the storm expected to hit between the early morning hours overnight and Saturday afternoon.

Western Connecticut State University meteorologist Gary Lessor is expecting between 0.75 and 1.5 inches of rainfall, less than what is forecasted for Boston, Cape Cod and perhaps portions of Rhode Island. He forecasts scattered showers Saturday night and potentially more on Monday.

But because of the temperatures, he said there's "not a chance in the world" of snow.

Lessor said the Groton-New London area is looking at sustained winds of about 20 to 25 mph between about 4 a.m. and 4 p.m., with wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph.

The National Weather Service warns that winds this high can make driving difficult, especially in open areas or on bridges. A wind advisory is in effect for southern New London County from 1 a.m. to noon Saturday.

There is also a coastal flood advisory in effect from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, and a storm warning from 2 a.m. to 6 p.m. The NWS encourages recreational boaters to "remain in port, or take shelter until winds and waves subside."

Lessor anticipates minor coastal flooding in New London at high tide, which is at 11:43 a.m. Saturday, but indicated that flooding in southeastern Connecticut won't be as bad as flooding farther west on the Long Island Sound.

He said the nor'easter comes from the remnants of Hurricane Willa, which made landfall in Mexico earlier this week.

To stay up to date on Eversource power outages, check eversource.com/clp/outage/outagemap.aspx.

Eversource Vice President of Electric Operations Mike Hayhurst said in a news release, "We have hundreds of employees pre-positioned around the state, ready to respond to whatever this storm brings, to ensure we're there when our customers need us."

Both Eversource and Norwich Public Utilities warn people to stay away from downed wires, under the assumption that they're live, and to report them to 911.

"We'll make sure that our equipment and our materials are in place and ready to go," said NPU communications manager Chris Riley. "We are confirming our on-call schedule so we'll have all available linemen ready to go if needed."

e.moser@theday.com