Favorable Weather Looks Likely For Monday’s Solar Eclipse Across Western & Central Mass

For Tonight: Cloudy skies are expected throughout the night tonight. A very isolated snow shower or two is possible, but overall most areas will stay precipitation free. Low temperatures will be between 30 and 35 Degrees. Winds will be Northwest at 10 to 20 mph.

Saturday: The low pressure system that brought us all of the nasty winter weather Wednesday night into yesterday is expected to back in from the east during Saturday.

This means that cloudy skies are expected throughout the day Saturday and there is likely to be some scattered showers during the mid and late afternoon hours. High temperatures will be between 40 and 45 Degrees. Winds will be North to Northwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.

Sunday: Clouds look to stick around for a good part of the day on Sunday, but I do think that we will see some partly sunny skies by late in the day.

High temperatures will be near 45 Degrees. Winds will be North to Northwest at 10 to 15 mph.

Forecast For Monday’s Solar Eclipse: The weather forecast for Monday’s solar eclipse continues to look quite favorable with plenty of sunshine expected along with high temperatures between 60 and 65 Degrees. While we will not see full 100 percent totality here in Western & Central Mass, we will see anywhere between 92% and 94% totality with the peak of the eclipse occurring between 3:25 pm and 3:30 pm.

Those of you planning on traveling north or west to see totality should know that northern New York State, northern Vermont, northern New Hampshire and northern Maine continues to look very favorable to see the total eclipse of the sun. Plenty of sunshine looks likely across these areas.

As far as western New York State and northwestern Pennsylvania, the weather may be a lot more touch and go with a mixture of sunshine and clouds expected.

Finally, if you are indeed traveling to northern New York, northern Vermont, northern New Hampshire or northern Maine to see the total eclipse, please drive hyper aware as roads are going to be extremely crowded with very long travel delays likely (I’ve heard travel times will be 3 to 5 times longer than usual). People are going to be traveling there from all over the world (there are eclipse chasers that travel the world to see eclipses).

Also, those of you travel to northern New York, northern Vermont, northern New Hampshire and northern Maine should know that those back roads are going to be a huge mess due to very muddy conditions due to the snow melt that’ll be occurring. Probably best to stay on those main roads to avoid getting stuck.

Additionally, parts of northern New England are still without power due to the heavy wet snow that occurred Wednesday into yesterday and some spots may not get power back until Monday at the earliest. This will certainly lead to even more traffic delays.

For me, I’m staying put here!! As much as I would love to see a total eclipse of the sun, I have no want at all to put up with the insane traffic, the extremely long traffic backups and the idiots on the roads.

Downright Ugly & Miserable Weather Is Expected Tonight Into Thursday Across Western & Central Mass

Forecast For Southern Worcester County & The Connecticut River Valley (Includes Mass Pike, I-84, I-395, Route 146, I-91 & Springfield Metro): It looks like a downright miserable night thanks to rain, sleet, snow, raw and very windy conditions.

Rain mixed with sleet has been occurring all afternoon and I expect that a mix of rain and sleet will continue into this evening. As we head towards midnight, it looks likely that a change to all sleet with the sleet falling heavily at times can be expected. Sleet mixed with snow at times will then continues through the after midnight hours of tonight with the precipitation falling at a heavy intensity at times. It will be very windy throughout tonight with east winds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph.

Sleet mixed with snow at times looks to persist through Thursday morning before it gradually ends during Thursday afternoon. It will continue to be windy throughout the day on Thursday with northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-45 mph in the morning and north winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph in the afternoon.

Snow & Sleet Amounts: My latest thinking is that snow amounts will range from less than one inch for the lower Pioneer Valley of Western Mass, including the Springfield metro to 1 to 2 inches of slushy snow and sleet for the middle and upper Pioneer Valley of Western Mass as well as for areas near and south of the Mass Pike, including I-84, I-395 and Route 146.

Forecast For Central Worcester County (Includes I-290, Route 9 & Worcester Metro): It looks like a downright miserable night thanks to rain, sleet, snow, raw and very windy conditions.

A mix of rain and sleet has been occurring all afternoon and I expect that a change to all sleet with some snow mixed in will occur during this evening. As we head towards midnight and throughout the after midnight hours, it looks like a mix of sleet and snow will occur, which likely will change to all snow at times. This snow and sleet tonight will fall at a heavy rate at times. It will be very windy throughout tonight with east winds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph.

Snow mixed with sleet at times likely will persist throughout Thursday morning before it gradually ends during Thursday afternoon. It will continue to be windy throughout the day on Thursday with northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-45 mph in the morning and north winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph in the afternoon.

Snow & Sleet Amounts: My latest thinking is that snow and sleet amounts will range from 2 to 3 inches across areas north of the Mass Pike, including the Worcester Metro, the Route 9 corridor and I-290. Areas on the north side of Worcester and around Worcester airport could end up with 3 to 4 inches of snow and sleet.

Forecast For Northern Worcester County & The Berkshires (Includes Route 2 & The I-190 Corridor North Of Worcester): Rain and sleet is expected to change to snow with some sleet mixed in during this evening. Mostly all snow is then expected from about midnight tonight through the after midnight hours of tonight. The snow and sleet is expected to fall at a heavy intensity at times during tonight. In addition to this, it is expected to be very windy throughout tonight with east winds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph.

Snow mixed at times with sleet will persist throughout Thursday morning before it gradually comes to an end during Thursday afternoon. It will also continue to be windy throughout Thursday with northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-50 mph in the morning and north winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph in the afternoon.

Snow & Sleet Amounts: My thinking is that snow and sleet amounts will range from about 4 to 5 inches of snow and sleet around Holden, Paxton and Rutland to 5 to 7 inches of snow and sleet for areas around Princeton and Barre to 7 to 8 inches of snow and sleet for areas near Route 2 to upwards of 8 to 10 inches of snow and sleet for areas that are north of Route 2. As for the Berkshires, it appears that snow and sleet totals will range from 3 to 6 inches across the southern Berkshires to 6 to 10 inches across the northern Berkshires.

This wet and heavy snow combined with the very windy conditions tonight and Thursday is likely to lead to downed trees and power lines leading to power outage issues.

Rain Through Wed; Mixed Rain, Sleet & Snow Over Central & Southern Worcester County & The Pioneer Valley Wed Night & Thu; Snow & Sleet Over Northern Worcester County & The Berkshires Wed Night & Thu

Forecast For Southern & Central Worcester County & The Connecticut River Valley (Includes Mass Pike, I-290, I-84, I-395, Route 146, I-91, Springfield Metro & Worcester Metro): It is expected to rain for several hours this evening before it ends for a while during the after midnight hours of tonight into the first part of Wednesday morning.

Rain will begin again by the mid and late morning hours of Wednesday with the rain continuing through Wednesday afternoon. Some sleet and snow will mix in with the rain by about late Wednesday afternoon. It will become increasingly more windy during Wednesday with northeast winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30-35 mph.

Turning to Wednesday night, it appears that some colder air will drain down into the region as that coastal storm strengthens. Because of this, it appears that a mix of snow, sleet and rain can be expected throughout Wednesday night and it may come down heavily at times. In fact, a flip to all snow and sleet is possible at times, especially when the precipitation is falling at a heavy rate. In addition to this, it is expected to be very windy on Wednesday night with northeast winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50-60 mph.

Thursday looks as if we’ll see a mix of rain, sleet and snow throughout the day with the precipitation coming to an end during Thursday evening. It will also continue to be very windy throughout Thursday with north to northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-50 mph.

Rainfall Amounts: Looks like around 2 inches of rainfall in total can be expected through Thursday with most of that falling from Wednesday afternoon through Wednesday night.

Snow & Sleet Amounts: This continues to be the most difficult part of the forecast as the atmosphere is going to be marginal at best to support accumulating snow and sleet. That said, heavy mixed precipitation at times on Wednesday night could lead to an accumulation of snow and sleet to occur.

My thinking is that snow amounts will range from less than one inch for the lower Pioneer Valley of Western Mass, including the Springfield metro to 1 to 2 inches of slushy snow for the middle and upper Pioneer Valley of Western Mass as well as for areas near and south of the Mass Pike, including I-84, I-395 and Route 146.

For areas north of the Mass Pike, including the Worcester Metro, the Route 9 corridor and I-290, snow amounts of 2 to 3 inches seem possible. The exception may be around the north side of Worcester and up by Worcester airport where 3 to 4 inches of wet snow could occur.

Forecast For Northern Worcester County & The Berkshires (Includes Route 2 & The I-190 Corridor North Of Worcester): It is expected to rain for several hours this evening before it ends for a while during the after midnight hours of tonight into the first part of Wednesday morning.

Rain will begin again by the mid and late morning hours of Wednesday with the rain becoming a mix of rain, sleet and snow during Wednesday afternoon. It will become increasingly more windy during Wednesday with northeast winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30-35 mph.

Turning to Wednesday night, it appears that some colder air will drain down into the region as that coastal storm strengthens. Because of this, it appears that a mix of snow and sleet can be expected throughout Wednesday night and it may come down heavily at times. In addition to this, it is expected to be very windy on Wednesday night with northeast winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50-60 mph.

Thursday looks as if we’ll see a mix of snow and sleet throughout the day with the precipitation coming to an end during Thursday evening. It will also continue to be very windy throughout Thursday with north to northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-50 mph.

Snow & Sleet Amounts: The snow and sleet accumulation forecast continues to be a very difficult one as the atmosphere is going to be marginal at best to support accumulating snow and sleet. That said, heavy snow and sleet at times on Wednesday night could lead to several inches of wet, heavy snow to occur.

My thinking is that snow amounts will range from about 4 to 5 inches of snow around Holden, Paxton, Rutland, Princeton and Barre to 5 to 8 inches of snow near and especially north of the Route 2 corridor. As for the Berkshires, it appears that snow totals of 6 to 10 inches can be expected.

This wet and heavy snow combined with the very windy conditions on Wednesday night and Thursday is likely to lead to downed trees and power lines leading to power outage issues.