It was most certainly another cold start across with region with temperatures in the low to mid teens. Thankfully, the winds will taper and wind chill will be less of an impact on your outdoor plans today.
If you’re outdoor plans include going to the big game at Gillette Stadium this afternoon, temperatures will remain below freezing, but at least winds will be light with temperatures at kickoff at 26°. This will not even be in the top three coldest games at Gillette, considering the coldest is just 15 years ago back in 2004 when the kickoff temperature was just 4° when the Patriots hosted the Titans.
Today, high temperatures will range from the mid 20s to near 30 from north to south. A light wind will shift by the afternoon to our of the northeast and this will create more clouds as well as a chance for snow showers along the coast. This will be ocean effect snow bands that develop and wobble up and down the MA coastline. Ocean effect snow bands is what happens when you have a cold airmass over a relatively warm ocean, and with a change in wind direction to out of the northeast, this will set up at least a coating to 2″ of fluffy snow along the South Shore and SE MA into early Monday morning. For your commute, watch for slick spots from Cape Ann to the North Shore, to the Cape and Islands where we could get a coating. Also, leave a little extra time to dust off the car.
Monday will feature drier conditions by the second half of the morning and into the afternoon as the wind direction will then shift to directly out of the north the northwest, and that’s when the ocean effect shuts off and we’ll see sunshine emerging from west to east. Highs will range from the upper 20s to low 30s.
Tuesday and Wednesday we will finally reach above the freezing mark and we’ll be relatively quiet, so if you were looking for a good time to take down the Christmas lights, those look to be the best days to do so before another cold snap slides in Thursday before a chance for more snow on the way early Friday, and potentially a change in the pattern bringing the cold and snow chances by the end of next weekend. Definitely something we will be keeping an eye on as we get closer.
