No Weather Problems Expected Through This Weekend & Into The First Part Of Next Week Across Western & Central Mass

For This Afternoon: Partly sunny skies are expected throughout this afternoon with temperatures between 25 and 30 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight: Clear skies are expected throughout tonight with low temperatures between 10 and 15 Degrees. Winds will be West 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: Skies will start out sunny during the morning, but will be a mixture of sunshine and clouds during the afternoon. High temperatures will be near 30 Degrees. Winds will be West to Northwest at 10 to 20 mph.

This Weekend: Quiet weather is expected throughout this weekend across the entire area.

Saturday will be sunny with high temperatures between 25 and 30 Degrees. Winds will be West at 10 to 20 mph.

Cloudy skies are expected on Saturday night with low temperatures near 15 Degrees.

A mixture of some sunshine and lots of clouds are expected on Sunday. In addition, there is the possibility for a couple of snow showers during the late morning into the early and mid-afternoon hours over mainly Western Mass. High temperatures will be near 35 Degrees.

Monday Through Wednesday: Partly sunny skies are expected on Monday with high temperatures near 35 Degrees.

A frontal system is expected to approach the region during Tuesday and then move across the area during Tuesday night into Wednesday.

Tuesday will be cloudy with high temperatures between 35 and 40 Degrees.

As that front moves through, it’ll lead to the occurrence of snow showers during Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Another surge of Arctic air will follow this front and affect the area for the second half of next week.

Low temperatures Tuesday night will be between 10 and 15 Degrees.

High temperatures Wednesday will be near 20 Degrees.

5 To 8 Inches Of Snow Accumulation Is Expected From Late This Afternoon Through Tonight Until Just Before Sunrise Monday Morning Across All Of Western & Central Mass

Overall there are minimal changes to the forecast that I sent out yesterday. This update is to let you know the latest concerning the upcoming snowfall.

One item that will need to be watched closely as we get into later this afternoon and this evening and that is the potential for a couple of bands of heavy to very heavy snow to develop. The biggest challenge, however, is trying to figure out where exactly these bands will set up. Current indications are that one band of heavy to very heavy snow might set up between 8-9 pm and midnight this evening right near and west of I-91 in Western Mass and a second heavy snow band setting up from about the Quabbin eastward through the Worcester Hills, the I-84 corridor, the Worcester Metro and along I-190. 1 to 2 inch per hour snowfall rates are likely within these bands of heavy to very heavy snow. Additionally, these bands of heavy snow will be fairly convective in nature and because of this, don’t be surprised to see a flash of lightning or hear a rumble of thunder during the period of heavy to very heavy snow.

What Time Will The Storm Start? This is one part of the forecast that has changed some. It now appears that the snow will begin across Western Mass during the 3-4 pm time frame and then begin across Central Mass around the 4-5 pm time frame.

Heavy Snow Is Expected This Evening – Once the snow begins late this afternoon, it’ll gradually ramp up in intensity, so that by early this evening, it’ll be snowing at a moderate intensity across most areas. As I already mentioned, a period of heavy to very heavy snow looks quite possible, if not likely between 8-9 pm and midnight this evening in two areas – One is near and especially west of I-91 and the second from about the Quabbin eastward through the Worcester Hills, the I-84 corridor, the Worcester Metro & right along I-190. 1 to 2 inch per hour snow rates with perhaps a flash of lightning or a rumble of thunder can be expected between 8 pm and midnight.

Snow Lightens Up Dramatically Just After Midnight – The snow is expected to become light in intensity just after midnight tonight with this light snow continuing into the predawn hours of Monday morning.

What Time Will The Storm End? It looks like the snow will come to an end & we’ll be done by 3-4 am across Western Mass and by about 4-5 am Monday morning across Central Mass. All-in-all, this looks to be a barely 12 hour storm for most areas.

How Much Snow Accumulation Is Expected? I do think that we’re looking at a widespread 5 to 8 inch snowfall across all of Western and Central Mass. Not a big storm by any means (it never was expected to be a big storm), but it’ll be enough to lay down a decent snow cover for this upcoming week’s Arctic blast.

Expected Storm Impacts – I’m expecting that roads will be slick due to accumulating snow beginning late this afternoon and continuing through tonight. Also, the snow may accumulate rapidly on roads between 8 pm and midnight as we see those bands of heavy snow and because of this, you might want to delay any travel during that 8 pm and midnight time frame.

For those having to travel on Monday morning, road conditions should be improving rapidly as the snow will be done well before sunrise Monday morning. Just bundle up when going out anytime on Monday because it looks COLD with temperatures struggling to make it to 20 Degrees during the day on Monday.

The snow will likely start out as a wet snow late this afternoon and very early this evening, but will quickly become light and fluffy in nature by mid-evening and remain light and fluffy in nature right through and after the midnight hours of tonight.

Temperatures – Temperatures this afternoon will remain near 40 Degrees early this afternoon but will fall to between 30 and 35 Degrees by late this afternoon and early this evening. Temperatures will continue to fall tonight reaching 20 to 25 Degrees by midnight and reaching 10 to 15 Degrees by sunrise Monday morning. Temperatures during the day on Monday will struggle to reach 20 Degrees by afternoon.

Winds – Winds this afternoon will be North at 5 to 10 mph. Winds tonight will be North to Northwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Winds on Monday will be West to Northwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.

A 4 To 8 Inch Snowfall Is Expected From Sunday Afternoon Through Sunday Night Across All Of Western & Central Mass

For The Rest Of This Afternoon & Tonight: A cold front is expected to push through the area late this afternoon into early this evening.

Widespread rain showers will overspread the entire area by about 3 pm this afternoon and then continue through the late afternoon and early evening hours. These rain showers will come to an end by about 9-10 pm this evening.

Once the cold front moves through, the winds will shift to the northwest and some breaks in the clouds can be expected by after midnight tonight.

Temperatures the rest of this afternoon will be around 40 Degrees. Low temperatures tonight will be near 30 Degrees.

Winds throughout the rest of this afternoon will be South at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph. Winds tonight will be Southwest at 5 to 10 mph before midnight and West to Northwest at 5 to 10 mph after midnight.

4 To 8 Inches Of Snow Accumulation Is Expected From Sunday Afternoon Through Sunday Night Across All Of Western & Central Mass: It now looks very likely that a widespread 4 to 8 inch snowfall can be expected across all of Western and Central Mass from Sunday afternoon through Sunday night.

An area of low pressure riding along a frontal boundary will move to the area around Nantucket and the outer Cape during Sunday evening before heading northeastward towards Nova Scotia by late Sunday night.

Precipitation in the form of a rain-snow mix is expected to overspread Western Mass by about 1 pm or so Sunday afternoon. A rain-snow mix then looks to begin across Central Mass by about 2 pm or so Sunday afternoon.

This rain-snow will be very short-lived and it is likely to be snowing everywhere across Western and Central Mass by about the 3-4 pm time frame.

The snow is then expected to continue through the rest of the late afternoon hours of Sunday right through all of Sunday evening. It is expected that the snow will fall at a moderate to heavy intensity at times during Sunday evening.

During the after midnight hours of Sunday night, it looks likely that while light snow should continue, it will gradually taper off and end from southwest to northeast. All snow should be done by 4 am Monday morning across the entire area.

Temperatures are still expected to crash during Sunday evening as Arctic air pushes into the region. This means that wet surfaces from the initial rain-snow mix will flash freeze leading to the development of very icy conditions during Sunday evening. These very icy conditions will combine with the snow accumulating on top of the ice to lead to some extremely slick conditions throughout Sunday night.

My snowfall forecast for this storm can be found with the map attached to this post. Overall, I am expecting a 4 to 8 inch snowfall, but there is the possibility for localized amounts of up to 10 inches in areas that see persistent banding of moderate to heavy snow during Sunday evening.

Again, be aware that the snow will be accumulating on top of some very icy ground conditions leading to some potentially extremely slick travel and walking conditions throughout all of Sunday night. These very icy conditions will likely persist through much of Monday.

Temperatures on Sunday will reach 35 to 40 Degrees during the early afternoon hours. Temperatures will then crash to the 25 to 30 Degrees by late Sunday afternoon and early Sunday evening and then continue to drop to near 20 Degrees by midnight reaching 10 to 15 Degrees by sunrise Monday morning.

Winds on Sunday will be North at 8 to 16 mph. Winds on Sunday night will be North to Northwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.