The flakes we saw this morning are still flying up around Route 2 at midday. As I’ve been saying through the weekend – this is really light stuff, but it may make for a quick dusting/coating to 1/2″ in some locations up around the MA-NH border. This could make for slick travel north of the Mass Pike where the cold wants to HOLD on. Eventually, milder air will nose into New England, but cold air wants to sit like a couch potato – and it’s not quick to shove out in some spots. Into this evening there’s still the concern for some freezing drizzle/light freezing rain in NE Massachusetts. That could also make for isolated slick travel on side roads through the evening commute. Overnight, that milder air will win out – and take our highs on Tuesday into the mid and upper 40s! Don’t get too used to it though… It’s back to reality on Wednesday with seasonable temps coupled with a blustery NW wind.
It seems appropriate that the cold would move back in for Thursday – because that’s the official start of winter! The Winter Solstice is the darkest day of the year for the N. Hemisphere, as the solar energy is focused on the S. Hemisphere (it’s summer down-undah!). We’ll get 9hrs and 4 minutes of daylight on Thursday, but then we’ll slowly… very slowly… start to gain back a little daylight each day after.
While this week is relatively quiet (no real storms in store), by this coming weekend we’ll have to watch for some unsettled weather at times. With the pattern favoring Arctic air centered in the Midwest and Plains and warmth in the Southeast US, we may find ourselves in the battle zone/storm track. Saturday favors showers and milder air (mid to upper 50s!), but beyond that it’s too early to get too specific on timing (what day we get hit) or specifics on any snow/ice or rain. However – a white Christmas (1″ or more in Boston come Christmas Day) is looking unlikely at this point. Double-however, it’s worth mentioning that forecasts past 3-5 days have been VERY tricky lately… and there’s still time for the holiday weekend details to change. We’ll obviously be watching it closely!
See you tomorrow. – Breezy