Today was the calm before our next storm, the first snow storm of meteorological winter (since Dec. 1st). Saturday’s storm will pack a punch, with heavy rain changing over to heavy, wet snow from northwest to southeast, coupled up with gusty winds, power outages will be likely especially in the areas where the heaviest snow is expected, so let’s dive into the details.
A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for Worcester Co. and for northern Middlesex Co. where greater than 6″ of snow is possible and will create difficult travel conditions. A Winter Storm Watch remains for areas north and west of 128, and southern NH where heavy snow is possible.
The system starts off as rain as early as tonight and continues into Saturday morning. It will be heavy rain at times, followed by a changeover to snow, starting in the higher elevations from the Berkshires to southern VT, and interior southern NH to the RT. 2 Corridor and the Worcester Hills by late Saturday morning. The rain/snow line will continue to push southeastward through Saturday afternoon with snow winning out over the heavy rain.
By 5pm Saturday, most of the area, aside from the South Coast and the Cape, will see heavy snow reducing visibility at times.
This will result in higher snowfall totals for those higher elevations where 8-12″ is expected. For Metrowest, the Merrimack Valley and areas just to the west of the 95-corridor, 4-8″ of snow is forecasted, with Boston and NE MA to northern Bristol and Plymouth Counties 2-4″ of snow, with the snowfall totals tapering towards the South Coast and Cape to a coating to two inches possible.
The heavy wet snow will lead to power outages with those being widespread in northern Worcester Co. and southern NH.
The South Shore to the South Coast and the Cape may see some scattered power outages due to the gusty winds. A High Wind Warning has been issued for the immediate coastline from 1PM Saturday to midnight due to gusts to 60 MPH.
A few lingering snow showers through 10PM Saturday, otherwise the snow tapers and lifts north out of southern New England.
By Sunday morning, we’ll see the sunshine return with a blustery northwest breeze that will make it feel much colder (due to the new snow pack and the colder air moving in).
Sunday features a cold wind, making it feel like it’s in the 20s through most of the afternoon. For the work week, 30s will be the highs through the middle of the week, then a slight warm-up into the low 40s to end the week. Aside from a spot shower/flurry south on Tuesday and some afternoon showers Friday, the work week looks bright and not as active.
