My husband and I took a few days off last week and ran away from the cold to enjoy a quick honeymoon cruise to the Bahamas. It’s sort of our yearly tradition, to escape the winter climate for a little change in “L-ATTITUDE.” All of this planning came with a few surprises: 1) I was actually able to take a few days off during a winter season in Boston! (Where are all of the storms they warned me about?); 2) You can get a sunburn when it’s cloudy… and yes, it’s a surprise to me every time it happens; 3) A large percentage of the guests on our cruise ship were from Boston; and finally 4) It really hurts to jump from 80 degrees to 15 degrees… within a matter of hours. Our little winter tradition may end this year – because I thought I might actually die during my walk to the gym this morning (a little exaggeration here, I know… but seriously, it was 15 degrees out).
What I have learned from this experience is that if I could go back in time, I would change our return flight. I would book a flight that would arrive after the temps are warming from the teens into the mid 40s for highs on Sunday. However, I cannot time travel. I can only predict the future in the form of a weather forecast. :c) Oh shoot, so I did know in advance what was coming. Funny how that works.
Luckily, the cold blast is on the way out overnight and a warm-up is in store for Sunday’s big AFC Championship. Clouds will be on the increase through the night, and temps will rise. By the time the sun is making an appearance tomorrow morning, most areas should be above the freezing mark. That also looks to be about the time that the showers start to work in from west to east. There’s still a chance of a coating of snow in the western part of the state before the temps rise, but it looks like the most likely location for snow will be along Route 2 (of course), and west of Worcester. Surprisingly, it is the middle of January and we’re just expecting rain on Sunday.
The wet weather will start as showers and sprinkles through most of the day, but by the time the sun goes down we’ll start to see heavier downpours working in from west to east. Unfortunately, for MetroWest and SE Mass., the heavier rain looks likely for the second half of the game. Tailgaters: you should be good with hat. Fans who stay for past halftime: you’ll need a rain slicker and irrigatin’ boots. Between 8pm and 11pm is when we expect the bulk of the rain to fall; anywhere from 0.5″ to 0.75″ in through the later time frame. All said and done, most areas will pick up between 0.75″ and just over an inch of rain.
Winds will also be on the increase through tomorrow; blowing out of the NW by late in the day, around 10-20 mph. Coastal areas will be a bit windier (gusts around 30mph), but no watches or advisories are expected.
I think we’re about due for some real New England winter weather, don’t you? Don’t worry! There’s still plenty of time! Plus, temps in the 40s will be short-lived, with clearing skies and dropping temps expected for Monday. We’re getting the cold back quickly, expecting a little bit of snow mid-week, and the long-range forecast looks like it could set up a little differently than the last couple of months… What this tells me is that we all may need to plan another cruise to the Bahamas.
Enjoy our warm-up tomorrow, and GO PATS!!!!