It’s a relatively quick hitter, but it’ll pack a punch as heavy snow and gusty winds hammer the area today. The winds will be strongest along the coast and the combination of the strong winds and expected heavy snow, blowing snow and reduced visibility has prompted a blizzard warning for coastal Plymouth County and the Cape and Islands. Farther northwest, the remainder of southern New England is in a winter storm warning.
Snow overspreads the area from west to east through the morning. Initially, temps are near freezing, if not above freezing, so it’s a wetter snow to start, with even a few drops mixed in across Southeast Mass. That won’t last long as the colder air rushes in and temps fall into the teens and lower 20s during the storm, producing a lighter, drier snow. The height of the storm runs mid to late morning, through the afternoon with bands of snow producing localized rates of 2″+/hour. Even some thunder snow is possible! The worst of the storm in Worcester is likely 9am-3pm and about 11am-5pm in Boston and a bit later for Southeast Mass. Winds start to pick up too, eventually gusting up to 60mph for the Cape and Islands late this afternoon and this evening, 40-50mph along the coastal Plymouth County coastline, up to 40mph in Boston and around 25-35mph inland. That’ll provide plenty of blowing and drifting of the snow too as well as wind chills dip below 0 tonight. Most of the snow is over and done with by about 6pm in Worcester, 8pm in Boston and 10pm for the Cape and Islands. Isolated power outages are possible across the Cape with the strong winds, but away from the coast, those issues should be limited as the snow is dry and won’t cling to the trees and powerlines. Minor coastal flooding is possible at high tide around 9am this morning, but with winds turning to the north and northwest later today, coastal flooding is not a major concern this afternoon and tonight, although some pockets of minor coastal flooding is possible for this evening’s high tides around 10pm too.
Ok, let’s talk turkey…. snow totals. Most of the area falls in the 12-16″ amount of snow with quite a bit of fluff factored in. When we talk about these types of storms and intense localized bands, inevitably, amounts will vary a bit more than a four inch range. As of now, the most likely locations to sneak past 16″ would favor southern/southwestern Worcester County and into parts of CT and perhaps a few towns in SE Mass coming close to that higher end as well. The snow map is below… bottom line, a big storm for all.
Super Bowls and snowstorms… that’s how New England rolls. Stay safe out there.
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