5 Things You Need to (Definitely) Know Today: Monday, Oct. 29

Nothing cute today folks. Here are five key pieces of information related the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.

According to the NWS, today we will have rain, mainly after 7am. Patchy fog. High near 59. Windy, with a northeast wind 20 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

• Tonight Rain. Patchy fog before midnight. Low around 56. Windy, with a east wind 26 to 31 mph decreasing to 20 to 25 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
• Tuesday Showers. Patchy fog before 9am. High near 66. Breezy, with a southeast wind 14 to 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
• Tuesday Night Showers. Low around 53. Southeast wind 10 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
• Wednesday Showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 61. Southeast wind 10 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
• Wednesday Night A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

2. High Wind Warning: According to the NWS,the High Wind Warning will remain in effect through Tuesday morning. Sustained winds will be ffrom 20-30 MPH with gusts up to 60 MPH. The strongest winds will occur from late morning through early evening. Downed trees and power lines are likely and power outages are expected. As always, these could conditions could change, depending on the track of the storm.

3. Tewksbury Contact Phone Numbers: Make sure these numbers are written down or printed out and kept handy.

Emergencies: 911

Fire Department: 978-640-4410

Police Department: 978-851-7373

Department of Public Works: 978-640-4440 -- For any emergencies after 4:30 PM, please call the Police Department at 978-851-7373. This procedure is for emergencies only.

National Grid Power Outage Central: 1-800-465-1212

4. Quote of the Day: "And I am encouraging private employers to follow our lead and have their workers stay home as well." Gov. Deval Patrick, who ordered all non-essential state workers to stay home Monday and

5. By The Numbers: 67. As of Monday morning, Hurricane Sandy had already claimed the lives of 67 people, including 51 in Haiti.