7Weather- We’ll go from the mid and upper 60s Wednesday to the 30s Thursday. The chilly air settles in as a low pressure system moves in. This will result in a winter storm Friday.
Let’s start with tonight. There will be periods of rain throughout this evening and into tonight. Most locations receive an additional 0.25″-0.50″ of rain. Showers end between 1-3 AM tonight.
Boston and Worcester will be near-record warmth tomorrow. The forecast high for Boston is 67º and the current record is 68º set back in 2017. The forecast high for Worcester is 62º and the current record is 64º also set back in 2017.
The day starts mainly cloudy with temperatures in the mid and upper 50s. Skies gradually clear and temperatures jump into the mid and upper 60s in the early afternoon. A cold front arrives late in the day dropping us into the 30s by 8PM. Expect a gusty wind around most of the day.
We’re back to reality on Thursday. Skies are mainly sunny in the morning and then it looks like we’ll have a thin overcast sky in the afternoon. Highs will be in the low and mid 30s.
A low pressure system approaches the region on Friday. It’s looking like some locations will accumulate more than 6″ of snow, so we can now say we’ll be dealing with a winter storm.
Areas north of the Pike have the best chance of seeing all snow from this system. Locations along and south of the Pike could see sleet mix in throughout the afternoon which could limit totals.
Here’s what we’re thinking for this winter storm on Friday.
The Cape & the Islands will see mixing first so it looks like 1-3″ of snow that changes to rain, so most of the snow will get washed away. Bristol and Plymouth Counties are next to see mixing as warmer air pushes north. 3-6″ are likely before that changeover to a wintry mix.
The blue color below (including the Pike) are forecast to get 6-9″ of snow. This is the tricky area to forecast. A few questions remain. Will we see mixing of sleet that limits totals? If we do, how quickly and for how long will have mixed precipitation? These are questions we will try to answer in the next 24-36 hours.
It’s likely that areas in the pink color start as snow and stay as snow the entire event. This is where we’re thinking we’ll get 9-12″ of snow.
Stay tuned with this one! If we see trends of cold air remaining in place further south then that pink color will move closer to the Pike. If we see trends of warmer air pushing north then that pink bubble will move north and away from the Pike.
Snow starts early Friday morning. Right now it’s looking like a start time between 4-6 AM. Expect slick spots early in the morning, and then snow covered roads by mid-morning.
The steadier/heavier snow likely falls between 12-5 PM. It looks like the Friday afternoon/evening commute will be most impacted. Expect snow covered roads in the afternoon especially along and north of the Pike.
Light snow remains in the area between 5-11 PM.
