7Weather – February begins with a chill, as we started the morning off in the teens and twenties and only rebounded to the upper 20s/30s. Parts of southern Plymouth County and the Cape picked up some light snow accumulations, as we were on the northern edge of a storm to our south. This might have felt chilly after the mild January we just had (the 5th warmest on record), but be prepared for temperatures and the wind to make it feel well below 0° over the weekend.
Tomorrow (Thursday) will be a cold start to a seasonably cool day. Overnight, we’ll have mainly clear skies majority of the night with light wind, which will allow temperatures to drop to the high teens/low twenties. We’ll see mainly sunshine for MetroWest, while parts of the South Coast, Cape and Islands could see a few more clouds. High pressure will be positioned to our south, initiating a SW wind that’ll stay breezy throughout the day. Highs will reach the upper 30s/near 40. Not bad… just yet.
Friday morning when you’re heading out the door, we’ll reach our highs for the day in the upper 20s/near 30. It will be short-lived. Temperatures will come crashing down as the arctic front moves in Friday morning. It’s the cold air combined with the wind that will make it feel dangerously cold, especially by Friday evening/night. Temperatures will feel close/below 0° with a steady NW wind 15-20mph and occasional gusts 35-40mph. Temperatures will feel dangerously cold through Saturday morning. It’s during that time frame that there’s a Wind Chill Watch for Mass and southern New Hampshire. Temperatures could feel like -20 to -30°. When wind chill values drop to those levels, frostbite is possible within 15-30 minutes. You’ll want to make sure you have thick enough accessories and layers to especially cover your extremities if you must be outside for any time at all.
Here’s a closer look at the actual low temperatures Saturday morning. If the city of Boston falls to -4, this would be the coldest air since Valentine’s Day of 2016. Saturday, the afternoon high temperature for MetroWest will be near 15° with the wind making it feel like 0° to -10°. All around a very cold day!
Looking ahead, the cold air is out of here by the end of the weekend. Sunday, highs rebound in the afternoon to the low 40s. We could even squeeze out a 50° day on Wednesday. The Climate Prediction Center shows there’s a 70-90% chance that our temperatures will likely be above average for the 6-10 day outlook. For reference, that’s when our average high temperatures are in the upper 30s.
-Meteorologist Melanie Black
