Friday Evening Weather Update For Western & Central Mass

Temperatures have fallen into the upper 30s to low 40s at the time of this post and are expected to continue quickly falling towards freezing over the next couple of hours.

Additionally, rain has changed to snow across the Berkshires and the western Hilltowns of Western Mass while rain continues everywhere else. It is anticipated that rain will change to a period of snow within the next hour or so across much of the region, even down into the valley locations of Western Mass. Any snow will last for an hour or two and should be done everywhere by 9-10 pm.

Snow accumulations from any snow over the next few hours should range from a dusting in the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass to perhaps around one inch or so in the Worcester Hills, the hilltowns of Western Mass and the Berkshires.

The combination of rain changing to snow and temperatures falling to below freezing will lead to icy spots on roads, parking lots, sidewalks, driveways, stairs and other surfaces. So, use caution if you are out and about over the next few hours and be aware that there will be areas where things may be slick.

Finally, it'll continue to be windy throughout much of tonight with West winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-50 mph expected.

Late Friday Morning Weather Update For This Afternoon & This Evening

Moderate to heavy rain continues to fall across the entire area at the time of this post. Additionally, southerly winds are frequently gusting up to 30-40 mph.

Rain is expected to continue to occur for the next 3-4 hours or so before it tapers off to a few rain showers by mid-afternoon. It'll also continue to be windy with southerly winds gusting up to 40-plus mph for the next several hours.

A strong cold front will sweep through the region during the early afternoon hours, which will not only lead to an end of the steady rain, but also will cause the wind direction to shift to a westerly direction. Additionally, temperatures will quickly fall into and through the 40s by mid-afternoon.

One other thing that I am going to be watching is for snow showers to cross the region between about 6 pm and 9 pm this evening. While most of these snow showers should be light in intensity, it's possible that a couple of the snow showers could be locally heavy and put down a quick coating of snow.

Temperatures are also expected to fall to below freezing by early this evening. While I am not expecting any sort of "flash freeze", I do think that there could be some locally icy spots. Because of this, use caution if you are out and about this evening.

Heavy Rain & Windy Conditions Are Expected During Friday Morning Across Western & Central Mass (Issued: Early Thursday Afternoon 12/18/2025)

Heavy Rain & Windy Conditions Expected Friday Morning: A round of heavy rain is expected throughout Friday morning as a strong frontal system moves through the region. In addition to the heavy rain, I am also expecting this to be a wind-swept rain throughout Friday morning.

Rain is expected to overspread the entire area around sunrise Friday morning. Once the rain begins, it will fall at a heavy intensity at times throughout Friday morning. Also, don’t be surprised to hear a rumble or two of thunder when it is raining hard.

The rain may continue into part of early Friday afternoon, especially across Central Mass before it comes to an end everywhere by mid-afternoon Friday.

All-in-all, it looks like around one inch of total rainfall can be expected during Friday morning.

In addition to the rain, it is expected to be windy throughout Friday morning with South winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35-40 mph expected.

Temperatures during Friday morning will peak in the low 50s.

Falling Temperatures, Strong Winds & Scattered Snow Showers Late Friday Afternoon & Friday Evening: Once that strong cold front moves through, expect falling temperatures, strong westerly winds and even some scattered snow showers across the entire area by late Friday afternoon and Friday evening.

Temperatures will fall through the 40s by mid to late afternoon Friday and then into the 30s by Friday evening. Low temperatures by late Friday night will be around 20 Degrees.

West winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-45 mph can be expected during late Friday afternoon and during Friday night.

In addition to all of this, some scattered snow showers may affect the area during Friday evening between about 7 pm and 10 pm. Any snow showers could produce a light dusting of snow in some areas.

This Weekend: Saturday looks to be a sunny to partly sunny day and it’ll be windy during the morning. High temperatures will be near 35 Degrees. Winds will be West at 15 to 20 mph in the morning and West to Southwest at around 10 mph in the afternoon.

A weak frontal system looks to pass through the area during Sunday. This means that skies will be cloudy throughout the day on Sunday & some scattered snow showers are possible from time to time. High temperatures will be between 35 and 40 Degrees.

Maybe Some Snow On Tuesday?? If we are going to have a White Christmas this year, Tuesday has the best opportunity to give us that very thing.

It appears that a frontal system will push through the area during the day on Tuesday. Depending on how much moisture accompanies this front, it could produce some light snow across the entire area during Tuesday morning into early Tuesday afternoon with amounts of perhaps 1 to 2 inches.

This is something that I am watching and I’ll have more updates as needed.