Weekend Weather Forecast For Western & Central Mass

For The Rest Of This Afternoon & Tonight: Lots of clouds can be expected throughout the rest of this afternoon. Temperatures will only be between 30 and 35 Degrees. Winds will be Northeast at 6 to 12 mph.

Cloudy skies are expected throughout tonight. It should be noted that the combination of residual moisture and below freezing temperatures will lead to areas of black ice across the entire area throughout tonight. Low temperatures will be between 25 and 30 Degrees. Winds will be Northeast at 5 to 10 mph before midnight and Southwest at 5 to 10 mph after midnight.

This Weekend: A southwesterly wind flow will be in place across the region throughout this weekend. This southwesterly wind flow will pull in some milder air into the region, especially on Sunday.

Saturday looks cloudy with high temperatures between 45 and 50 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 5 to 10 mph in the morning and Southwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph in the afternoon.

A frontal boundary is expected to cross the region during Saturday night. I do expect to see some scattered rain showers accompany the front during the overnight hours of Saturday night. Low temperatures will be around 40 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.

Some leftover scattered showers can be expected during Sunday morning. Skies will then gradually become partly sunny during Sunday afternoon. High temperatures will be around 55 Degrees. Winds will be West at 10 to 15 mph.

Next Week’s Weather Outlook: Monday and Tuesday both look quite mild & this will lead to a pretty quick snowmelt across the region (here comes mud season). This, in turn, is likely to lead to some pretty fast rises on the area rivers and streams. Because of this, we are going to have to keep an eye on the potential for river ice jams and the possibility of river and stream flooding during next week.

Monday looks sunny with high temperatures between 60 and 65 Degrees.

Tuesday looks partly sunny with high temperatures between 60 and 65 Degrees.

A cold front looks to cross the region during Wednesday. Because of this, I expect widespread showers throughout the day on Wednesday with high temperatures between 45 and 50 Degrees.

Thursday will start out with some leftover scattered showers, but skies look to become partly sunny by afternoon. High temperatures will be between 40 and 45 Degrees.

Next Friday looks partly sunny with high temperatures near 45 Degrees.

Rain Changes To Freezing Rain & Sleet By Late This Afternoon & Early This Evening; Freezing Rain, Sleet & Some Snow Expected Tonight & Friday Morning Across Western & Central Mass

An area of low pressure is expected to track just to the south of Long Island during tonight. The track of this low pressure is such that it’ll be able to pull down cold enough air to produce a very messy mixture of freezing rain, sleet and even some snow across the entire area starting as soon as late this afternoon and continuing through tonight and Friday morning.

Rain is expected to continue through mid-afternoon as temperatures mostly remain just above freezing across the region.

Things become a lot more complex in terms of when the precipitation will change to freezing rain and then sleet from north to south across the region & also how much sleet and ice accumulates. Trying to figure out the temperatures in the mid-levels of the atmosphere are going to be crucial in determining whether this is going to be an all-out ice storm across parts of the area or if this is going to be a sleet storm across much of the area tonight. Only a 1 to 2 degree Celsius change in the temperature is going to mean the difference between almost all sleet or almost all freezing rain. Not an easy forecast!!

I do think that areas north of the Mass Pike will change from rain to freezing rain by about 5-7 pm today. Areas near and south of the Mass Pike look to change from rain to freezing rain by about 7-9 pm or so this evening. The exception to this looks to be the lower Pioneer Valley of Western Mass where rain may just change to sleet this evening between about 8 and 10 pm or so.

During tonight, I think that areas north of the Mass Pike will gradually change from freezing rain to a sleet storm between about 10 pm and midnight. Sleet then continues across areas north of the Mass Pike during the after midnight hours of tonight. It should be noted that the northern Worcester Hills may change from sleet to snow at some point during the after midnight hours.

For areas near and south of the Mass Pike, the predominant precipitation type may end up being freezing rain throughout tonight. This is something that’ll need to be watched very closely as ice amounts of over one quarter (0.25”) of an inch to perhaps up to one third (0.33”) of an inch could lead to ice buildup on trees and power lines leading to scattered power outages.

One big wildcard to tonight’s forecast is going to be whether there is a burst of snow during the after midnight hours of tonight or not. Should this occur, then there could be a quick few inches of wet snow that accumulates across northern Worcester County. In fact, some of the high-resolution model guidance show quite a heavy burst of snow pushing as far south as Worcester, the I-290 corridor & the Route 9 corridor during the after midnight hours of tonight. I’m not buying into that high-resolution guidance yet, but it’s something to certainly watch.

Turning to Friday morning, snow across the northern Worcester Hills, sleet across areas north of the Mass Pike and freezing rain across areas near and south of the Mass Pike will come to an end by mid-morning.

It goes without saying that roads are going to be one big mess tonight across the entire area. Freezing rain and then sleet across areas north of the Mass Pike will lead to some slick conditions during all of tonight. Freezing rain near and south of the Mass Pike will produce some icy conditions on roads and all other surfaces. It’s likely to be slick out there tonight!!

Additionally, the Friday morning commute is likely to be a mess as well due to snow across the northern Worcester Hills, sleet across areas north of the Mass Pike and freezing rain near and south of the Mass Pike.

Freezing Rain, Sleet & Some Snow Is Expected Tomorrow Night Into Friday Morning Across Western & Central Mass (Posted at 12:15 pm Wednesday 3/4/2026)

After a really nice afternoon with lots of sunshine and temperatures around 50 Degrees, it appears that we are probably going to have a real mess on our hands in terms of freezing rain, sleet & snow tomorrow night into Friday morning.

An area of low pressure is expected to track to the south of Long Island during tomorrow night. As it does so, it will pull down some cold air from the north while it precipitates outside. This, in turn, will lead to rain to change to freezing rain and then sleet from north to south during tomorrow evening. A changeover to snow is a possibility late tomorrow night across areas near and north of Route 9.

So, this is how it could unfold tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow night & Friday morning across the region -

FOR AREAS NEAR & SOUTH OF THE MASS PIKE:

Rain looks likely during tomorrow afternoon as temperatures fall through the 30s.

This rain looks to change to freezing rain during tomorrow evening with this changeover occurring between about 6 pm and 8 pm as temperatures fall to below freezing.

Temperatures then look to continue falling into mid and upper 20s during tomorrow night. This means that freezing rain is likely to continue for several hours tomorrow evening before it changes to sleet around or just after midnight tomorrow night.

Sleet then looks to continue during the after midnight hours of tomorrow night through sunrise Friday morning. The sleet then looks to end between about 7 & 9 am Friday morning.

The melt off of ice from the freezing rain will be much slower on Friday due to temperatures only rising to about 35 Degrees.

Ice amounts from the freezing rain looks to average at least one quarter (0.25”) of an inch with the possibility of upwards of one third (0.33”) to one-half (0.50”) of an inch of ice possible.

Sleet amounts may average up to one-half of an inch.

Needless to say, icy conditions on roads can be expected starting as soon as 6 pm tomorrow and continuing through all of tomorrow night. Additionally, decks, stairs, driveways, parking lots and sidewalks will also be very icy tomorrow night - so, watch that first step when going outside. These icy conditions look to persist through Friday morning.

Also, the buildup of ice on trees and powerlines tomorrow night may lead to some tree limbs and power lines to come down. Isolated power outages are a possibility.

FOR AREAS NORTH OF THE MASS PIKE:

Intermittent periods of light rain can be expected during tomorrow afternoon while temperatures fall through the 30s.

This rain looks to change to freezing rain sometime between 5 pm and 7 pm tomorrow as temperatures fall to below freezing.

Temperatures then look to continue falling into mid and upper 20s during tomorrow night. This means that freezing rain is likely to continue for a few hours tomorrow evening before it changes to sleet by about 8-10 pm or so tomorrow night.

Sleet then looks to continue through & past midnight tomorrow night. A changeover from sleet to snow may then occur around dawn Friday morning across areas near and north of Route 9.

A sleet & snow mix will then come to an end between about 7 & 9 am Friday morning.

The melt off of ice from the freezing rain will be much slower on Friday due to temperatures only rising to about 35 Degrees.

Ice amounts from the freezing rain looks to average around one quarter (0.25”) of an inch or so.

Snow & sleet amounts may average between 1 and 2 inches, especially for areas near and north of Route 9.

Needless to say, icy conditions on roads can be expected starting as soon as 5 pm tomorrow and continuing through all of tomorrow night. Additionally, decks, stairs, driveways, parking lots and sidewalks will also be very icy tomorrow night - so, watch that first step when going outside. These icy conditions look to persist through Friday morning.

Also, the buildup of ice on trees and powerlines tomorrow night may lead to some tree limbs and power lines to come down. Isolated power outages are a possibility.