New Year, Same Cold Story

Happy New Year!  No new records for Boston this morning with a low of 0° (record low is -3°, set back in 1918.  Worcester tied the record low for this day of -5 (1918) and even set a new record cold high temp of 8 (old record cold high was 9°, also set in 1918).  Even though it wasn’t a new record for Boston, January 1st, 2018 still made the list of the top 5 coldest New Year’s Days on record:

(Confession:  When I first update this graphic, I wrote “2017” because old habits die hard… and perhaps I should double check I wrote the correct year on the rent check too!)

So we’re on to a new year but the same cold story… and it’s becoming really difficult to find different ways to tell you all that it’s cold out.  We know that, don’t we?  :c)  A Wind Chill Advisory is still posted for Worcester County north of the Mass Pike until 11am Tuesday for wind chills that will get to near -20°.  Again, that’s the dangerous kind of cold – where frostbite can set in within 30 minutes on exposed skin.

Want to talk about something other than the cold?  How about the supermoon?!  Check out this amazing photo from tonight’s full “Wolf Moon:”

Missed it?  Or decided to skip it because it was too cold to go out?  Don’t worry.  It’s the first of two supermoons in January – which will make our full supermoon on January 31st a “blue” supermoon (two full moons in one month).

Tomorrow is another cold day for us (you figured, right?) with highs between 13-20°.  That’s a bit of improvement from today – plus, winds should be a tad lighter which should make a difference in how it feels.  Still… Cold.  Wednesday is not a bad day at all with highs heading into the mid to upper 20s – and we never though that would look warm on the forecast… but funny enough, it does right now!

But, we need to talk about Thursday:

This looks like a bomb of a storm for Thursday.  You remember “bombogenesis?”  I talk about it all of the time – because it’s fun to say.  When a low is “bombing out” it’s undergoing rapid intensification – dropping at least 24mb in 24 hours.  This low will generate off the coast of Florida on Wednesday and then zip up the East Coast (offshore) and could drop some 40mb in 24 hours!!   The track looks likely that it will stay well offshore (but that still could change) – but as strong as this system is, we’ll still be feeling the fringe effects even though it’s far from home.  The impact we’ll be feeling here on Thursday will be snow (but how much is still TBD), strong/damaging wind, and coastal concerns (high astronomical tides).  I’ve said a few times tonight that “plowable snow is looking likely for E. Mass.”  Remember, plows are brought out with just a couple/few inches of snow.  Most forecast models are spitting out numbers between 3-7″ currently – but that’s not taking into account that the air is COLD, so there will be a “fluff factor” to this snow – which could make some of those numbers higher.  Again – too early to get specific on snow amounts but maybe that gives us a good starting point.  A lot to keep an eye on as we get closer to Thursday.

Even the snow lovers that are rooting for this storm to track closer to home – you might want to cool your jets.  This storm means business – and it would be better for it to be a storm for the fish, rather than a storm that knocks out our power.  The arctic air comes rushing back in after this system and it could even be colder than the cold we’ve been experiencing.  To be without power next weekend would be so very dangerous and terrible.  We’ll hope that track doesn’t wobble any closer to home.

Stay well.  Happy New Year.  See you tomorrow.  – Breezy