Today was a reminder of what winter is supposed to feel and look like after being spoiled for most of the season so far. Yes, this was cold even for late February standards with highs only climbing to near 20°. We’re usually about 40°. We even had a few snow showers this afternoon. I will admit, it was a little more than I expected, especially in the higher terrain! It was a pretty snow globe snow with no wind and the big flat flakes. That was the problem. Cold temperatures allowed just about every snowflake to stick to the ground. And the light fluffy snow stacks up fast! For most of us it was just a coating to an inch of accumulation with a few reports around 2″ in Worcester County with some of the higher elevation.
Tomorrow we’ll do it again. We’ll have a few (mostly) snow showers back in the area, but they shouldn’t amount to anything more than a coating (famous last words, I know). But here’s why I’m less convinced of any accumulation tomorrow than today. It’s a much warmer day. Temperatures will climb to near 40° tomorrow afternoon versus near 20° today. With ground temperatures above freezing it’s a lot harder for snow to stick on the roads. That and it’s a wetter snow with a higher water content. Those don’t stack up nearly as fast as the light fluffy powder snow does like we saw today.
By now you’ve probably heard about the storm in line for early next week. Or maybe you even read about it here. We’re about 48 hours out (a little more) so we’re getting to the point where we can give you some finer details about the storm. And even now, there is some uncertainty and we’ll be able fine tune the finer details even more through Sunday and of course Monday. The good news about this storm is it is only about the snow. There’s no wind concern and no coastal concerns, but it will have an impact on your Tuesday commutes.
This is primarily a snow event with very minor mixing on the coast. The snow comes in Monday night and initially could be a decent thump of snow at the onset. It won’t come in until near midnight Monday so there’s no impact on your Monday. It will snow for several hours into Tuesday morning and slow down your morning commute. Once we get past noon on Tuesday, we’ll wrap in slightly warmer air which will turn the precipitation on the coast line to a rain/snow mix and cut down on accumulation there. Not only does the precipitation switch to some rain, but the intensity will back off as well. That gives me some hope that the Tuesday evening commute, while slow, will not be as bad as the Tuesday morning commute. The storm is gone by Wednesday.
Ok, so the snow map… first one of the winter season! Or at least first decent one. The lowest totals will be found on the coast line where that mixing happens and the highest numbers will be over the higher terrain with some elevation enhancement. This is a first shot at the snow map, there will likely be some tweaks and adjustments between now and Tuesday, but right now the takeaway is a plowable snow is on the way for much of the day on Tuesday.
