Here’s something important I learned while growing up: If you have bad news to share – put it in a “sandwich.” Wait! Let me explain… For example, I need to tell Mom and Dad that the that I just ran the Buick into the garage door, I say: “Mom, Dad… I got an A on my homework assignment! Also, there might be something wrong with the car… Oh and Mom, are you losing weight?!” Or, I need to call my parents from the police station because I got picked up for violating curfew: “Hi Dad. Uh, listen… I just ran into Officer Fornsworth and he said his mother is doing much better. Also, I’m going to need you to come pick me up from the station. Oh and by the way, I just heard that you can save a bunch of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico!”
See how I did that? Just put the bad news in between two pieces of good bread… and you have yourself an edible sandwich (though, you may have to choke it down)!
So, the forecast goes like this: “Listen everyone, the bitter cold is leaving the area! There’s also another storm working in… but we won’t be measuring the snow in feet this time!” See what I did there? A winter-storm-forecast-sandwich. Good news, bad news, good news.
Now, to get to the “meat” of this forecast “sandwich:”
* Snow starts tomorrow (Saturday) between 4-5pm. This is light, and even scattered snow to start – possibly even breaking apart for a few lulls in places.
* Milder air will work in from the SE, changing the snow over to rain. It doesn’t look like this milder air gets any farther NW than 495 – so in those areas, the snow totals will be the highest. It looks like 3-5″ north of the Turnpike and NW of 495.
* Inside of 495, 1-3″ of snow expected before changing to a rain/snow mix. There’s also a potential for freezing rain here. Side roads especially will be slick.
* The snow to rain changeover happens before midnight in SE Mass. – but this is also where we expect to see the most rain. 0.75″ to 1.00″ of rain will find a home in the existing snow, and this will pile on the weight. If you have not cleared the snow off of your flat roof areas, do so before bedtime Saturday!
* The event will wrap up midday Sunday – ending as light rain/drizzle on the Cape and Islands.
* While we are not worried about any coastal flooding (not much wind here), there could be localized flooding due to poor drainage. If the drains are filled with ice (and most of them are) the ice probably won’t have enough time in the mild temps to melt off and disappear.
Now, I realize that you’re expecting me to wrap up all of this seemingly bad news with one more piece of good news. So, here it goes: A better opportunity to thaw out looks likely by St. Patrick’s Day! (Can we wait that long?)
As for more snow on Wednesday, light snow looks likely for now. We’ll continue to watch this. – Bri
