Snow is coming down across Southern New England, and in some areas, it’s coming down heavily!
The heaviest snow has been across the North Shore, specifically Essex County. We’ve already seen reports of 10″+ in towns like Danvers and Marblehead. Why the numbers in Essex County so big? This area has seen significant ocean effect snow. Essentially, with the wind pointing in the “right” direction for a lengthy period of time, bands of heavy snow can form and dump snow on localized areas until the wind direction shifts and the bands either turn or fall apart. Those bands were pointing right at Essex County all morning.
This storm, however, is very uneven. If you’re in a heavy band, you’re really in it. If you’re not? The snow is very manageable. For most, the snow will be manageable enough, with central and southeastern Mass largely in the range of 3-6″. Southwestern Mass will stay in the 1-3″ range.
The biggest impact with this storm is road conditions. Roads will be tough to travel, and when snowfall rates are high, visibility will lower out and make travel tougher as well.
Snow finally tapers off late this afternoon/early this evening… but the active forecast doesn’t stop there. As the snow departs, the bitter cold takes hold as arctic air flies into Massachusetts.
Dropping temperatures combine with increasing winds (gusts in the 20s and 30s) to create for a brutally cold feel by Sunday morning. Wind chill values will be in the range of -10 to -20 for most, with isolated areas getting to -30. Highs on Sunday will only be in the mid to upper teens, with wind chill values near zero. Yikes!
As you head out Sunday morning, or even Sunday night for any Super Bowl festivities, make sure you have layers on (even if it’s just for the walk from the car to a friend’s house)! This is the kind of cold that can be harmful to exposed skin (frostbite is possible in about half an hour when wind chill values are that low)!
If you’re looking for a warmer trend, you may be happier with the coming week’s forecast. Not that it’s warm… but it’s warmer, and I’d like to think that counts for something.
We’ll start with Monday– still breezy, and still chilly. We’ll be mostly to partly sunny with temperatures in the low to mid 20s. Tuesday we’ll be back around freezing, still with some sunshine. We’re keeping an eye on another small storm that may bring a few snowflakes Wednesday/Thursday. But, both of those days will be in the mid to upper 30s!