The worst is behind us with this Nor’easter, but it did get us pretty good last night and this morning. Strong wind gusting over 60mph in a few spots, 1-4″ of snow/sleet accumulation well in the interior, and a grip of rain for many of us; it was a lot of everything with this storm. Everyone kept asking, “If this were snow??? How much snow???” Well first off, it’s worth mentioning that a “Nor’easter” is NOT a “snowstorm.” A “Nor’easter” is defined by its strong wind component out of the northeast. I pulled this from the NWS definition: “A Nor’easter is a storm along the East Coast of North America, so called because the winds over the coastal area are typically from the northeast. These storms may occur at any time of year but are most frequent and most violent between September and April.” With this particular winter Nor’easter, we just didn’t have the cold air in place to give us a grip of snow. However, to answer the “how much?” question – just for fun – if the cold air had been in place – taking the generally accepted 10 to 1 ratio of 10″ of snow for every 1″ of rain – this could have been 1-2 FEET of snow!
Side note: If you’re a #snowlover whose heart was broken because of the lack of snow with this storm… don’t give up hope just yet. There’s still plenty of winter to get through, and the last two winters didn’t get the snow-making-storms going until the end of January. Even the “snow blitz” winter didn’t start until January 27th, 2015!
The here and now: We are in for improvement, but it will happen slowly. Through the day today, winds have been letting up slowly. Rain has been tapering off slowly. Temperatures really haven’t moved much, if at all – and that’s where the concern is overnight tonight. Through Worcester County, especially when you add in a bit of elevation, temps are at freezing/just below/or barely above. We’ll keep the drizzle and light shower action going through the evening and night which could make for some ice accretion in the interior. A freezing rain advisory has been posted by the NWS until 4am:
Tomorrow is another day – and as clouds clear out slowly int he morning, we’re in for some afternoon sunshine! Also, temps are very mild for the next couple of days; low to mid 40s for highs Wednesday and closer to 50° for Thursday. But then it looks like that’s the end of that, for the well-above-average temperatures. It’s back to the grind for the weekend with more seasonable temps in store (mid to upper 30s) and blustery/breezy conditions. As I mentioned before, there’s still quite a bit of winter left and I do think February will hold more bouts with cold air. We’ll have to wait and see if that “cold” will translate to some “snow.” – Breezy