Yesterday’s temp tease was just like the old “bait and switch.” Highs around 40 on Sunday were like a hyperlink in an email reading “You’ve won a FREE cruise!”… Only, when you click on the link – you get RICK ROLLED (Here’s what I’m talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ). The arctic air is straight up pulling a “Rick Astley;” promising New England that it’s, “Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down…” To quote my famous farmer-father yet again: This type of cold “is like the booger you just can’t flick off your finger.” Thanks, Dad. Your gross, but you sure do make sense with your whimsical anecdotes.
But really, what a tease yesterday with temps around 40, and what a difference 24 hours can make! Last night, at this time, we were still sitting right near 32 degrees and this evening we have already dropped into the teens. The arctic air isn’t done with us. In fact, it looks like it’s moving in to set up shop for a while! If there is a silver lining here, it’s that this deep freeze comes along with sunshine for most of the week – but I don’t think it will help us to feel any warmer. Highs near 20 just hurt, whether or not there’s sunshine.
Near record lows are expected into tomorrow morning. If you were out and about at all today, you know the mercury was dropping and the winds were adding a chill. NW winds will continue through most of the night, taking wind chill readings down to around -20F. A Wind Chill Advisory is in effect for most of the Bay State through 10:00 tomorrow morning. Again, the key here is to make sure that none of your skin is exposed to the cold. When we say, “bundle up,” we really mean it, with this kind of cold. With numbers that low, frostbite can set in in just 30 minutes.
We’ve been living in fear for too long of some possible snow entering into the picture on Wednesday. Well, it’s safe to say that we’re going to dodge the worst of this one… but it will still clip us to the east as it passes over water Tuesday night. It looks like a coating to an inch of snow is possible by Wednesday morning inside of 495, down to Scituate – and 1″ to maybe 3″ (Nantucket, I’m lookin’ at you) is possible for the South Shore, Cape and Islands. It’s not much, but it could put Boston up over the 100″ mark for the season (it would only take 0.1″ to do it).
Other than that “pinch” of snow on Wednesday morning, we’re in the clear all week! The sunshine makes an appearance each day, but the cold is here to stay.
Next storm we’re watching will be Monday. For now it looks like a wintry mix followed by rain and highs near 40. We’ll keep an eye on it.