It’s a big night here at 7News – for so many reasons – but from the corner I sit in (the weather cave), it’s all about the coastal storm that will impact the beginning of the work week. There are a lot of details we need to break down with this one, but here’s the biggest headline (#IMHO): This is not, by definition, a snowstorm… because there’s not any cold air to take advantage of… and YES that seems odd for this time of year. However if you’re thinking of calling of winter already, just remember that the last two winters – including the “snow blitz” winter – didn’t get started until the end of January. For all of you snow-lovers, there’s still time to turn things around and I think we will turn a page back to “winter” during February. We’ll see.
In the near term we have some drizzly, damp, raw, foggy conditions to contend with. While we’re above freezing across the board right now, temps in the interior are expected to drop down to freezing (or just below) overnight, which could make for some freezing drizzle and icy conditions. Something to keep in mind for travel N & W of 495 late tonight and early tomorrow morning – which means if your friends/family are out at Gillette and headed home to those areas tonight, give them a heads up.
Tomorrow – the onset of this storm isn’t until late afternoon/early evening (5-6pm), but up until then the day is breezy and raw and damp. Again – it’s a mixed bag and what you get all depends on where you’re located. Here are the basic bullet points:
When: Monday from 5-6pm through Tuesday. The brunt of the storm with the heaviest rain and strongest wind will be Monday late evening into the overnight. Rain will break apart during Tuesday, but it’s still a wet and windy day.
What: The main impacts with this storm will be heavy rain (1-3″ of RAIN) and very strong wind (gusting between 60-70mph for the outer Cape and Nantucket). There will be some colder air in the interior that will make for a wintry mix – and this will include light accumulations (1-3″) of slushy muck: sleet/snow/slosh/ice. There’s also a good chance that higher elevations in the interior will experience some ice accretion (ice “accretion” vs. snow “accumulation”) around 0.25″. Bottom line, this is not a snowstorm as I said before, but there will likely be icy/slick conditions N & W of 495.
Watches/Warnings:
Stay with #7News as we weather this storm together. We’ll keep you posted with blogs and of course on our social media accounts.