We’re all still shuddering at the thought of the bitter cold this morning (-3 in Boston), and then we shudder again thinking of more snow tomorrow. It’s true. The snow is moving in tomorrow, but it won’t stop our worlds from turning like past storms have.
The snow will turn on for the morning commute, but it looks like very light scattered snow showers to start. I don’t think it will slow down the commute any more than the existing snow/problems will. Steadier snow is expected for mid-day, but we have a couple of things going for us this time around: 1) The storm track is more east, 2) There’s hardly any wind this time around, and most importantly 3) This will be a “light” snow event. Snow totals will be very light to the NW (a coating to an inch), and more generally speaking, just 1-3″ expected for Boston. Areas to the SE of the city can expect closer to 3-5″, however, I think the 5″ mark will be more localized. This kind of snow we can deal with, especially after the past few storms. If we can weather that, we can weather this!
The bitter cold is going to stick around for the time being, which means we’re not getting out of this meat locker anytime soon. The piece of good news here is that the wind will die down tonight, so we’re not looking at dangerous wind chills for a while. We’ve been breaking records all across the board for snowfall, why not break some records with temperatures, too? This is currently the 2nd coldest February on record, and we’re only 2 degrees away from the #1 spot (1934).
Now, I have to say (and maybe it’s because I haven’t had much sleep – so I’m no switching from forecasting to “wish-casting”) I might just be able to get on board with Pete’s thought that we’re breaking out of this Frozen world. Yes, the cold will be with us through the end of the month, but the storms (if we see them) are looking a little more tame. It could even warm closer to average by the first week of March! Bring it on, Meteorological Spring!
As for a “storm” this weekend… it’s really difficult to say at this point. The jury is still out. The GFS shows some light snow showers on Saturday night (this is a much better outlook from runs of the GFS last night!) and the Euro shows temps in the 40’s with a whole lotta rain. The Euro needs to go home, because clearly it’s drunk. I don’t see a warm-up like that sneaking in under the cold we have in place – and the rain on top of mass melting in 45 degree weather would cripple us. It could happen, but it seems highly unlikely. Let’s cheer on the GFS which calls for a great weekend of skiing! Who’s with me? Let’s hear it! G-F-S! G-F-S! G-F-S! For now, I’ll sleep with one eye open and keep an eye on it. -Bri