Colder Than Average Temperatures Persist Into This Weekend Across Western & Central Mass

For The Rest Of This Afternoon: A mixture of sunshine and clouds can be expected throughout the rest of this afternoon. Temperatures will be between 40 and 45 Degrees. Winds will be West at 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight: There’s the possibility that we could see another Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) display tonight as another geomagnetic storm hits the Earth. Current indications are that this solar storm may reach the Earth during the early part of this afternoon. This means that if, and that is a huge if, there are any northern lights displays, it’ll occur from just after sunset until about 9-10 pm this evening. That said, trying to forecast whether there will be an Aurora Borealis display or not is extremely difficult & oftentimes you don’t know if they’re going to happen until they’re actually occurring (like last night’s stunning display).

Now, comes the question, will the skies be cloudy, partly cloudy or clear tonight? It appears that, unfortunately, there may be quite a bit in the way of cloudiness throughout tonight. That said, I have hopes that there may be some breaks in the clouds at times possibly revealing any Aurora displays that may be occurring.

Low temperatures will be near 30 Degrees. Winds will be West at 10 to 20 mph.

Thursday: A mixture of sunshine and clouds can be expected throughout the day on Thursday.

High temperatures will be near 45 Degrees. Winds will be West at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy skies are expected before midnight with clear skies expected during the after midnight hours. Low temperatures will be between 24 and 29 Degrees. Winds will be West to Northwest at 10 to 20 mph.

Friday: Sunny skies are expected to start the day with skies becoming partly sunny during the afternoon.

High temperatures will be between 40 and 45 Degrees. Winds will be Northwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.

This Weekend: Quite a bit in the way of sunshine can be expected during the day on Saturday. That said, increasing cloudiness looks likely by late in the day as a frontal system approaches us from the west. High temperatures Saturday will be near 45 Degrees.

That frontal system is expected to push through the area during Saturday night and Sunday morning. This means that rain looks to occur from about midnight Saturday night through all of Sunday morning. The rain looks to taper off to scattered showers during Sunday afternoon.

At this point, rainfall totals from midnight Saturday night through the day on Sunday look to average between one quarter of an inch (0.25”) and one half of an inch (0.50”).

Low temperatures Saturday night will be near 35 Degrees. High temperatures Sunday will be near 45 Degrees.

Cold & Windy Weather Tomorrow Will Make It Feel Like It's January Across Western & Central Mass

You're probably going to want to break out the winter jackets as temperatures tomorrow will feel very much like its January.

A cold front is making its way across the region right now & is bringing with it a line of heavy showers. These heavy showers will make their way across the rest of the area over the next couple of hours. Behind the front, temperatures will quickly fall reaching the upper 30s by early this evening. By sunrise Tuesday morning, temperatures will be in the mid to upper 20s everywhere with wind chill temperatures in the teens.

Tuesday will be a cold and windy day, so bundle up if you're going out. Additionally, I think many across Western and Central Mass will see their first snowflakes of the season in the way of snow showers.

The most numerous snow showers during the day on Tuesday will be found across the Berkshires where 1 to 2 inches or so of snow accumulation is possible.

Elsewhere across Western and Central Mass, scattered snow showers can be expected from time to time throughout the day on Tuesday. No accumulations of snow are expected from the snow showers as I think the intensity of the snow showers should be light.

High temperatures Tuesday will be between 34 and 38 Degrees. Winds on Tuesday will be West at 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph. Wind chill temperatures on Tuesday will be in the low to mid 20s.

Wednesday looks a little milder with high temperatures between 40 and 45 Degrees expected. Still though, it will still feel rather cold as it'll remain windy all day long. Additionally, it appears that there may be some scattered snow showers during the morning across the entire area. No snow accumulations are expected as it's expected that the intensity of the snow showers will be rather light.

The 2025-2026 Winter Outlook For Western & Central Mass

After over two weeks of a lot of time and work, here is your 2025-2026 Winter Outlook for Western & Central Mass. Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the forecast, I'm hoping you might be able to alleviate the costs that were required to research and write-up this forecast. This includes the costs for the data I used for researching and also for the amount of time I put into coming up with the winter outlook.

Like many of you, this has been a tremendously tough year for us financially & any help you can send my way would be appreciated more than you will ever know. You can help me out by using your credit or debit card or you can use PayPal or Venmo to help me out:

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HERE IS THE WINTER OUTLOOK: We’re at that time of year when everyone is getting ready for all of the things that winter brings. Because of that, here are my thoughts on what this winter might bring in terms of weather. This winter forecast, I hope, will help you in preparing your holiday travel, snow removal budgets & knowing how much heating oil, propane or firewood you might need to use.

I do think that this winter may start out snowier & colder than average as we are in weak La Nina conditions. It is expected that these La Nina conditions will “warm” to neutral ENSO conditions by later this winter leading to things turning warmer and less snowy than average by later this winter. Additionally, the ocean water temperatures over the North Pacific are warmer than average & it appears that the “polar vortex” will be disrupted often, leading to the potential for numerous waves of Arctic air to be pushed in the eastern United States, especially during December and early January.

All-in-all, I think that we’re probably looking at slightly above average temperatures and slightly below average snowfall for this winter. Additionally, I think that we’re going to have a fast start to this winter. This means that I think that we’re going to see colder than average temperatures and a snowier than average weather pattern from about Thanksgiving through all of December right into the first part of January.

This looks to be then followed by warmer than average temperatures and below average snowfall from late January into a good part of February.

There’s then the possibility that we could see a return to winter weather during March and April. This, however, is not a sure thing & it’s quite possible that this part of the winter outlook could end up not verifying.

The Rest Of November Through The Month Of December: All of the signals are pointing towards colder than average temperatures and above average snowfall starting around Thanksgiving and continuing through the month of December.

I do think that overall temperatures the rest of this month will average slightly below average with most of the cold temperatures occurring this week & then again during the final week of November. The month of December looks colder than average for temperatures & possibly even much colder than average in terms of temperatures.

As for snowfall, I think that we’re looking at possible snowfall amounts from the second half of this month through the month of December to be as follows:

Western Mass:

Pioneer Valley Of Western Mass: Around 18 Inches.

Hilltowns Of Western Mass: Around 25 to 30 Inches.

Berkshires: Around 30 Inches.

Central Mass:

Northern Worcester County & Northern Worcester Hills: Around 25 Inches.

Worcester Hills West Of I-190: Around 24 Inches.

Worcester Metro: 20 Inches Lower Elevations To 24 Inches up around Airport Hill.

Easternmost Worcester County (I-495): Around 17 Inches.

Southern Worcester County (Areas Near & South Of The Mass Pike): 18 to 22 Inches.

January: January looks to start out cold and snowy with below average temperatures and above average snowfall.

This looks to potentially change, however, by the second half of January as we could see southeastern US ridging flexing a bit leading to a storm track that takes low pressure systems either right over us or over northern New England. Should this occur, it would lead to not only above average temperatures and below average snowfall, but also any storms that do occur could end up being messy mixed precipitation storms or full-on ice storms.

All-in-all, I do think that January will end up being near average in terms of temperatures & near average in terms of snowfall.

This is what I’m thinking in terms of snow amounts for the month of January:

Western Mass:

Pioneer Valley Of Western Mass: Around 10 to 15 Inches.

Hilltowns Of Western Mass: Around 15 to 20 Inches.

Berkshires: Around 20 Inches.

Central Mass:

Northern Worcester County & Northern Worcester Hills: Around 15 to 18 Inches.

Worcester Hills West Of I-190: Around 18 Inches.

Worcester Metro: 15 Inches Lower Elevations To 18 Inches up around Airport Hill.

Easternmost Worcester County (I-495): Around 12 Inches.

Southern Worcester County (Areas Near & South Of The Mass Pike): Around 12 to 15 Inches.

February: February looks warmer than average with the potential for below average snowfall as the storm track looks to stay right over central and northern New England. This could, in turn, lead to any storms bringing us either a mix of snow, ice and rain or full-blown ice storms.

This is what I’m currently thinking in terms of snow amounts for the month of February:

Western Mass:

Pioneer Valley Of Western Mass: Around 5 Inches.

Hilltowns Of Western Mass: Around 10 Inches.

Berkshires: Around 10 to 15 Inches.

Central Mass:

Northern Worcester County & Northern Worcester Hills: Around 12 to 15 Inches.

Worcester Hills West Of I-190: Around 12 Inches.

Worcester Metro: 10 Inches Lower Elevations To 12 Inches up around Airport Hill.

Easternmost Worcester County (I-495): Around 5 Inches.

Southern Worcester County (Areas Near & South Of The Mass Pike): Around 5 to 10 Inches.

March & April: There’s the possibility of one last gasp of winter during March into the early part of April. That said, this part of the forecast has a huge amount of uncertainty to it and because of this, use with caution.

I think that temperatures during March may end up below average with temperatures in April average near average.

Snowfall during March into early April may end up close to average with a very low possibility of slightly above average snowfall.

Here is what I’m thinking in terms of snow totals during March into early April:

Western Mass:

Pioneer Valley Of Western Mass: Around 8 to 10 Inches.

Hilltowns Of Western Mass: Around 12 to 15 Inches.

Berkshires: Around 15 Inches.

Central Mass:

Northern Worcester County & Northern Worcester Hills: Around 15 Inches.

Worcester Hills West Of I-190: Around 12 to 14 Inches.

Worcester Metro: Around 10 Inches Lower Elevations To 14 Inches up around Airport Hill.

Easternmost Worcester County (I-495): Around 8 Inches.

Southern Worcester County (Areas Near & South Of The Mass Pike): Around 10 to 14 Inches.

In Summary - The winter of 2025 to 2026 could end up being about average to perhaps 1 degree or so above average for temperature as a whole. That said, the period from about Thanksgiving through Christmas and the New Year to about January 10 looks to be quite cold with below average to much below average temperatures anticipated.

As for snowfall, I'm forecasting total snow amounts that are slightly below average for a winter as a whole. It should be noted that most of the snow this winter looks to occur between Thanksgiving and about mid-January & because of this, it’ll certainly feel like a snowier than average winter for a while.

In terms of numbers, this is what I’m thinking across the region in the way of total snow amounts:

Western Mass:

Pioneer Valley Of Western Mass: Around 41 to 48 Inches.

Hilltowns Of Western Mass: Around 62 to 75 Inches.

Berkshires: Around 75 to 80 Inches.

Central Mass:

Northern Worcester County & Northern Worcester Hills: Around 67 to 73 Inches.

Worcester Hills West Of I-190: Around 66 to 68 Inches.

Worcester Metro: Around 55 Inches Lower Elevations To 68 Inches up around Airport Hill.

Easternmost Worcester County (I-495): Around 42 Inches.

Southern Worcester County (Areas Near & South Of The Mass Pike): Around 45 to 61 Inches.

In comparison to last winter (winter of 2024-25), it appears that this upcoming winter could end up being snowier than last winter by about 15 to 20 inches or so. Still though, it appears that this winter may see seasonal snow totals that are 5 to 10 inches below average.

Given everything that I’ve said, I want to point out that this winter could very well end up being much snowier than this. Alternatively, it’s also in the realm of possibilities that this winter could end up being less snowy than what I’m forecasting. My hunch though is that if we’re going to error either way, it may end up being on the snowier side this winter.

A snowfall forecast in any seasonal forecast has a very low amount of confidence. The reason why is because it only takes a couple of storms or so to make or break a season and this is something that just cannot be forecast months in advance. Because of this, my advice is to use my forecast as a general guide as to when the worst of winter might occur rather than a detailed outlook.