Hopefully you’ve enjoyed a milder Thursday across New England, because these above-average temperatures are one-and-done!
A weak front moving through the region will make things breezy this evening, though winds calm down overnight. Temperatures will fall into the low to mid 20s with a partly cloudy sky. It’s the least eventful part of the forecast for the next few days.
Friday starts off somewhat calm and mostly sunny. Afternoon highs will be in the upper 20s with the warmest spots right around 30 degrees. But with an arctic front approaching New England, it’ll get cloudier and breezier throughout the day as well. Gusts will top out between 25-30 mph, and we could see a quick flurry or snow shower in the second half of the day as the front comes through.
The arctic air settles on in after the front leaves, and this is when things get downright brutal (temperature-wise, anyway). Overnight lows will drop to right around zero, and the wind chill could be up to -25 in spots (especially from Worcester to the Berkshires). For that reason, we have Cold Weather Advisories for most of the Bay State (barring the Cape), as well as Extreme Cold Warnings for the Berkshires from Friday night through Saturday morning.
For anyone wondering, our average lows are in the low 20s while our average highs are in the mid 30s this time of year. Let me assure you, we’ll be nowhere close on either side of things. Highs in the afternoon will only be in the teens, still feeling like we’re between -5 and 5 degrees at times with the breeze. On the bright side (literally), it’ll be mostly sunny.
Though it’ll be a calm end to our Saturday, overnight lows will still only be in the single digits. But, as we get to Sunday **deep breath** this is where the weather story of the week, or perhaps the weather story of the winter begins.
I’m sure by now you’ve heard plenty of chatter about our late weekend storm. That’s not a surprise considering it has the potential to not only be the winter storm of the season, but also has the potential to deliver the biggest snowfall some towns have seen in years.
This storm will spend Saturday and early Sunday developing and intensifying in the South Central states, and the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Ohio Valleys before it reaches us. Right this minute, more than 120,000,000 people are under Winter Storm Watches, while another 40,000,000+ are under Winter Storm Warnings ahead of this system. Yikes!
As for us here in New England? Our Winter Storm Watch will kick into place Sunday morning, and last through Monday evening.
Right now, snow showers look like they’ll begin mid-afternoon on Sunday, continuing and becoming heavy at times through the evening and overnight into Monday morning for most of New England. The only exception is the South Coast, the coast of the Cape along the Nantucket Sound, and coastal Rhode Island. These areas will see some wintry mixing overnight/very early Monday morning.
While snow will lighten up for portions of Southern New England mid-morning on Monday, the last-hurrah of this system will be a few wrap-around snow bands, leading to additional accumulation Monday afternoon/evening before the snow finally fades Monday night.
Forecast snow totals are impressive, to say the least. The Cape and South Coast have the lowest potential, with 8-12″ possible after the mid-storm wintry mix. Otherwise, most of Massachusetts is looking at 12-18″, with the exception of an area along and east of 495 that could see 18-24″ thanks to some ocean effect enhancement.
This snow, unlike the snow we saw last weekend, will be drier and fluffier (the “powder” that skiers and snowboarders love), rather than sticky and wet. That’s good news in that the now likely won’t stick to powerlines/tree limbs very easily. That said, travel will be rough, if not downright dangerous Sunday night/Monday morning especially. Stay weather aware, and be prepared for a good old fashioned taste of winter in the coming days!
BY THE WAY — for those gearing up for the Pats game on Sunday (WOOOO!) — Denver is looking cold on gameday, with highs in the low/mid 20s and the potential for a few snowflakes as well!
