Our first bitter blast of the season is on its way in overnight, and we’re definitely going to feel it. It’s crazy to me to think that just over a week ago we had temperatures in the 60s, and even 70s (in some spots) and now we’re talking about wind chill readings below zero! What a change. Hopefully you got that nice new coat for Christmas – and if you live on Cape Cod, a new snow shovel!
The front moves through overnight tonight and once our temps drop below freezing, they won’t get above 32° until Wednesday afternoon. You may be thinking, "I can handle temps in the 20s." BUT can you handle "real feel" temperatures in the teens? There’s a cold breeze that comes along with this change in temps – and that means wind chill readings in the TEENS tomorrow and BELOW ZERO on Tuesday morning! When the kiddos got off of the school bus at the start of Winter Vacation, they were wearing t-shirts and sandals. As they head out to the bus-stop for the next two days, they need to be completely bundled. Our highs tomorrow in the low to mid 20s will likely happen early in the day and then continue to drop (slowly, but surely) as we head through our Monday.
Now, the other thing we’ll be tracking tomorrow is the ocean-effect snow. Inland, there will be sunshine. However, things will look different along the coastline and for the Cape and islands. Ocean-effect snow is all about the direction of the wind, and if that wind shifts just ever-so-slightly, it will be the difference of a couple of inches of snow or no snow at all. Here’s how it works: We’ve got this bitter, dry air moving over relatively warm ocean water (45°, or so) and this makes the atmosphere unstable. You can get snow showers and even snow squalls – but exactly where they set up is tricky to call.
A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for Cape Cod and Nantucket through Tuesday morning. This is mainly a "heads up for slippery roads!" But those areas could also see some blowing and drifting snow – and snow squalls can bring the snow in so fast and furiously, it can reduce visibility for a time. All said and done, your inches of snow (1-4") will likely accumulate for the middle and outer Cape. Again, the wind direction is key here – and if the wind direction shifts to be more north-easterly, the South Shore could get some snow, too. Bottom line – It LOOKS like winter for the Cape tomorrow, but it FEELS like winter for inland areas.
The cold is only visiting for two days, and then it’s "back to normal" for the rest of the week. All in all, it really is a quiet week of weather… until next weekend. There’s definitely something brewing for Saturday (and maybe into Sunday) – but there’s still plenty of time to nail down the details. I really don’t see this being a big snow-maker (even inland), but it could be a wintery-mixy-mess like we had last Tuesday. Of course, we’re watching it… because that’s what us weather-geeks live for. Stay tuned! – Breezy