While posting the forecast for snow and blizzard conditions tomorrow, I’ve seen a lot of people respond with "Here we go again," and "Doesn’t this feel like last year?" and "The day after the Super Bowl should always be a snow day," and also, "Is this like the Blizzard of ’78?" Man, you all have a really good memory – specifically those who remembered the day after the Super Bowl last year (wink, wink). The Blizzard of ’78 hit around the same days in February; the 5th through the 7th. Luckily with this round of winter weather, we’re really talking about one ROUGH day to trudge through – and NOT 27.1" of snow like Boston got in 1978. Enough with the flashbacks… I’m a forecaster who looks at the future.
Tomorrow is going to be a rough day of winter weather. The snow (with possibly some mixing) gets going for Cape Cod and the islands as early as 4am, and slowly creeps NW from there. If you are going to try to commute to work tomorrow, PLEASE take it easy!!! Plus, I would recommend leaving as early as possible. We’re already seeing snow falling in Boston by 6-7am.
The other big concern I’ve been seeing on social media is the consistency of this round of snow. Our backs are still hurting from shoveling the cement-like snow we received on Friday! Well, it looks like temps will be dropping throughout the day – into the mid 20s by afternoon. This means that while it could be wet, heavy snow on the onset, it will eventually turn over to snow with more "fluff factor." This is one of the reasons why we’ve had to bump up the snow totals; not as much compaction as Friday’s snow.
Watches/Warnings are posted below. A Blizzard Warning is in effect from 4am to 7pm for Plymouth County, Cape Cod and the islands. Remember, "blizzard conditions" aren’t about the amount of snow on the way. "Blizzard Conditions" are more about gusty winds blowing the snow around and reducing visibility. So, YES – We’re talking about very strong winds this time around, blasting out of the NE maybe up to 60mph for those areas under the warning.
The winds are also a significant part of this forecast because they could bring us some bands of ocean effect snow. It’s REALLY difficult (and almost impossible) to pinpoint exactly here those bands of snow will set up. Often times, we won’t know where those "bulls-eye" spots are until we are IN the event. But where those bands set up, and how long they stay in the same area, could really drive snow totals up. That’s why the snowfall forecast map has a bulls-eye of 10-14" across SE Mass.
Strong NE winds combined with high astronomical tides will bring about coastal concerns. Because the wind is out of the NE, we’re mainly watching the South Shore, Cape and islands for minor, to pockets of moderate coastal flooding. The high tide to watch will be at around 11am, but the concern is for two hours on either side of that "peak time."
If you’ve made it this far in the blog – THANKS! I realize it’s a whole lot of information, but it’s important information. We’ll keep you posted as we weather this together tomorrow. Keep it with us on 7News! – Breezy
