It was fun frolicking in the 50s yesterday, wasn’t it?
I thought it might be better to start with that than, “FLASH FREEZE EXPECTED TONIGHT!! For nearly mid-March, that’s about as bombastic as the all caps suggest. Simply forbidden…unless you’re in the pattern we’re in.
Despite some blips and bumps in the temperatures, we’re in a long term cold phase for the next 7-10 days. Now that I’ve gotten that out, let’s focus on this storm.
With tonight’s storm passing just over Hartford, Worcester and Newburyport, you’d expect the rain/snow line to fall closer to Southern New Hampshire than its current position in Central NH. However, it’s not January, and that’s not how this storm is structured. There’s a lot of warm air in the middle atmosphere, and it’s keeping the foot plus snow amounts across Northern New England this go-round (see image above).
However, the temperatures are in free fall after midnight, plummeting from the 40s into the 20s as the storm scoots away and the wind turns to the north (see image above).
In many situations this winter, the drop in temperatures meant an immediate switch to snow. This time around, there’s a disconnect between the rain and the snow. That means we’ll see the rain stop, the temperatures plunge, and then the snow showers commence. The amounts may be paltry compared to other storms (see above) but it comes during the AM commute AND after much of the road salt/treatment has been washed away from the rain.
Needless to say, give yourself plenty of time tomorrow and take it slow. Just a skim coating will make it extra slippery!
Now, go and make plans for those 50s Saturday. (‘Cuz tomorrow I need to start talking about the storm threat next week.)
Pete