Here we go again! New England’s latest storm will bring everything but the kitchen sink– snow, sleet, rain and freezing rain as well. We’ve already seen the first of the precipitation start to fall, but it will keep on going through tonight and into Friday morning. The big difference between what we’ve seen and what we’ll see going forward is that cooler air will take over, leading to more mixing along and north of route 2, particularly for the North Shore.
Expect precip to start ramping up for the evening commute, largely rain at first, with some mixing in higher elevations. As we get to the later half of the commute, and past sunset, that’s where we start to see more freezing rain and sleet. This mushy winter mix will continue through the night into early Friday morning, finally tapering off throughout the morning commute.
Freezing rain will likely be most prominent for areas along and south of the Mass Pike, particularly the Worcester Hills and south. Sleet will become more of a factor for areas along and north of route 2, as well as some snow overnight and early Friday morning. Southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut will mainly see rain.
My biggest concern for all of you with this storm is driving– especially in areas where freezing rain is possible. I know we all think we’re great at driving in winter weather, but ice is nasty business, no matter how many Massachusetts winters you’ve managed on the roads. Be vigilant as you head out the door on Friday morning! There will likely be a lot of slick spots, considering it’ll be easy for salt and brine to get washed off the roads with the mixing rain.
We also have the potential to see some isolated to spotty power outages in areas that have freezing rain as well, considering the weight of the ice on powerlines and weak tree limbs.
After the storm wraps up tomorrow we’ll stay gray for a bit. Clouds will be stubborn, starting to part juuust a bit later in the day. Highs will be in the low to mid 30s. Saturday will stay mostly cloudy with a stray shower or two possible, but highs will be milder! We’ll top out in the mid 40s.
If you’ve been waiting for spring to show up, you don’t have to wait too much longer! With a somewhat persistent flow of air out of the southwest, temperatures will steadily increase starting Sunday! We’ll become sunnier throughout the day, with highs in the upper 50s!
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!
With the continued flow of that warmer air, and high pressure large and in charge, we not only have a sunny, dry start to the week, but temperatures jump into the 60s!! Monday we’ll be in the low 60s, and Tuesday we’ll be in the mid to upper 60s!
Wednesday is going to try its best to follow the trend– that said, we’re keeping an eye on a back-door cold front that couldddd push highs back down into the 40s (see the diagonal line of blues vs yellows in the image below). This is not a slam dunk, so keep checking in throughout the week!
