Late January–typically the coldest time of the year (on average)–so a blog titled *Big Storm Early Next Week* surely means snow, snow and more snow….right?!?! Nope. The storm is going to be a powerhouse storm that will lash coastal southern New England with wind gusts between 45-55mph and copious amounts of moisture but with arctic air lacking (heck–even polar air is marginal) I think we’re talking heavy rain (perhaps just a lil snow & sleet northern Worcester County and west/north from there).
Let’s not gloss over the weekend tho. It’s a weekend filled with relatively mild air, especially tomorrow as temps make a run up into the 40s by afternoon. We will have a fair amount of clouds each day and perhaps a few sprinkles tomorrow morning and Sunday evening but essentially a dry weekend. Sunday’s temps will be a little cooler than Saturday but still in the low 40s. The only knock on Sunday is a developing (chilly) breeze during the afternoon & evening–including Gillette Stadium where temps will be near 40 and a northeast wind (blowing from the Lighthouse) between 10-15mph. That wind will signal a developing storm to our south Sunday evening.
That storm looks to make its move on New England Monday afternoon through midday Tuesday. Here is where the storm will be midday Monday:
A storm in that location all but assures us that this will be a heavy rain maker for much of the region. A closer look at what type of precipitation to fall looks like this..
In that pink shading, it looks like a coating-1″ of snow & sleet then heavy rain. In the white shading, 2-3″ of snow is possible before rain takes over and the green shading is rain with most towns picking up between 1-3″ of beneficial rain! More on that *coastal wind* tag. It looks heavy-duty, especially from about 4pm Monday until 4am Tuesday. Peak gusts should look something like this:
We do need the rain–#Drought–but could do without potentially damaging wind along the coast. More on the storm throughout the weekend.
Go Pats!
~JR