Bitter blasts of cold air, followed by a mild rain storm, then back to more cold. That has been the theme of the winter pattern lately, and it looks like that won’t change over the next week or so. Any snow events we’ve had, have been more nuisance type systems, and not major snow storms.
Speaking of a nuisance… how bout’ that freezing drizzle and snow we’ve had at times today? We started the day brushing off the cars and slip sliding on the sidewalks, and we ended the day the same way. In fact, a burst of snow across eastern Mass late this afternoon and early this evening puts down a quick coating to an inch in many towns, adding a fresh covering to those icy driveways, sidewalks and front steps. It’ll also slow down the evening commute, created slick spots on the roads in the heavier bursts.
The snow and freezing drizzle won’t last too long this evening, tapering off around 7:00PM (a bit sooner west of Rte. 128, perhaps a smidge later near the coast). We’ll dry out overnight as skies go from cloudy to mostly clear by Friday morning.
Friday will feature another cold front coming on through as sunny skies go mostly cloudy in the afternoon with a passing flurry and a gusty wind. Early afternoon highs in the mid 30s crash into the 20s by sunset with a biting westerly wind.
Cold air pours in Friday night with single digits in place by Saturday morning and wind chills 5 to 15 BELOW 0. Highs Saturday only reach the lower 20s, but at least we’ll have some sunshine!
You’d think with all this cold, we’d be talking snow for Sunday’s storm. However, that’s not the case as a wave of low pressure along a front drives into New England, turning the winds south and bringing in plenty of milder air and heavy rain. Showers develop Sunday afternoon and rain turns steady and heavy at times Sunday evening and overnight, including for the AFC Championship game. Rain tapers to snow showers by early Monday morning. Winds may be strong Sunday evening too out of the south, especially near the coast/Cape/Islands.
Could this be snow? It looks like a big snow maker for the Berkshires and portions of Ski Country, however, to get snow across Central and Eastern Mass, this front, and wave of low pressure, would have to be farther east to prevent the winds from going south. While it’s plausible, right now the more likely track features a rain event, I just don’t want to shut the door on that option quite yet.
Have a good night.
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