7:30 pm Friday Evening Weather Update On Tonight's Snow Across Western & Central Mass

Radar imagery and weather reports indicate that snow has begun across the Berkshires & it'll be snowing in the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass by about 8 pm. Across Central Mass, I expect that snow will begin between about 8:30 and 10 pm.

Warning For Those Of You Across Western Mass - Heavy snow with snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour will develop very shortly after it begins snowing across all of Western Mass. This heavy snow may extend as far east as Ware, Palmer, Monson, Brimfield, Wales and even Sturbridge. These heavy snowfall rates will very quickly lead to very poor travel conditions as plow crews will have a tough time keeping up with the quick accumulation of snow on roads, as well as very low visibilities in heavy snow. Because of this, my recommendation is to stay off of roads between about 8 pm and midnight if you are anywhere across Western Mass, as well as those on the Mass Pike as far east as Sturbridge. The snow is expected to lighten up considerable in intensity by midnight with light snow continuing during the after midnight hours.

For Central Mass: While the snow will be less intense in how quick it falls, I do expect light to moderate snow once it begins across Central Mass with this moderate snow lasting until about midnight. Because of this, slick travel will be likely across Central Mass & caution is advised if you are out and about.

All snow is still expected to come to an end around sunrise Saturday morning.

I have no changes at all to how much I am expecting in terms of snow totals tonight. I have attached the snowfall map I created earlier this afternoon to this post.

Snow Is Expected Tonight Across Western & Central Mass; Freezing Rain Late Sunday Night Into Early Monday Morning Changes To All Rain During Monday (Issued: Early Friday Afternoon 12/26/2025)

Snow Is Expected Tonight: An area of low pressure is expected to dive southeastward from the eastern Great Lakes to the Mid-Atlantic coastline during tonight. This low pressure system is expected to produce snow across all of Western and Central Mass throughout tonight. The highest snow totals of 6 or more inches are expected across Western Mass with lower snow amounts expected across Central Mass. It should be noted that a period of heavy snow is expected to occur across Western Mass between 8 pm and midnight with snow rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour expected. This means that travel conditions this evening across Western Mass will likely be quite poor due to low visibility in heavy snow & rapid accumulation of snow on roads.

So, let’s break it down some more:

First, for Western Mass:

Snow is expected to begin across Western Mass between about 7 and 8 pm this evening and is expected to quickly become heavy in intensity. Heavy snow is then expected from about 8 pm until about midnight this evening with snow rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour expected. As I already mentioned, poor travel conditions can be expected from about 8 pm until about midnight this evening due to heavy snow.

The snow will then lighten up in intensity during the after midnight hours of tonight. All snow is expected to come to an end around sunrise Saturday morning.

For Central Mass:

Snow is expected to begin across Central Mass between about 8 pm and 10 pm this evening. The snow may be moderate in intensity at times for a couple of hours right after it starts. The snow is then expected to be light in intensity during the after midnight hours. All of the snow is expected to come to an end around Saturday morning.

My forecast snowfall total map for tonight’s snowfall is attached to this post.

Saturday: All of the snow should be done by sunrise Saturday morning and the rest of Saturday morning is expected to be cloudy. Skies will then become sunny during Saturday afternoon. High temperatures will be between 25 and 30 Degrees. Winds will be North to Northwest at 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday: A sunny day is expected on Sunday with high temperatures around 35 Degrees. Winds will be West at 6 to 12 mph.

Freezing Rain Late Sunday Night Into Early Monday Morning Changes To All Rain During The Day On Monday: Another storm system is expected to track across northern New England during the day on Monday. The track of this storm system is such that we will be on the milder side of it & because of that, ice and then rain can be expected across the entire area starting late Sunday night and continuing through Monday.

Precipitation in the form of freezing rain looks to overspread the entire area by the predawn hours of Monday morning. This initial freezing rain may last through sunrise Monday morning before it changes to all rain during the mid and late morning hours of Monday. That being said, I do have concerns that the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass, the Berkshires and the northern Worcester Hills may remain freezing rain throughout all of Monday morning. Past experience with events like this have shown that freezing rain has lingered longer than what weather forecast guidance shows due to cold air remaining locked in place across Western Mass and across the northern Worcester Hills.

By Monday afternoon, I do think that it’ll be raining everywhere across Western and Central Mass as temperatures rise to around 40 Degrees.

Be aware that icy conditions are quite possible across the entire area from the predawn hours of Monday morning until mid-morning Monday and because of this, hazardous travel conditions can be expected. These icy conditions may hang on until midday Monday across the northern Worcester Hills, as well as across a large part of Western Mass.

I will be watching this storm closely and will have more updates throughout this weekend.

Christmas Night Weather Update For Western & Central Mass Concerning Friday Night's Snowfall

I hope everyone had a very nice Christmas!! I wanted to send out this quick post to update you with the latest regarding Friday night's expected snowfall across the entire area. It now appears that most areas will see more snow than previously thought, especially across Western Mass.

It appears that snow will overspread Western Mass between 6 pm and 8 pm Friday evening and then begin across Central Mass between about 8 pm and 10 pm Friday evening. Once the snow begins on Friday evening, it may come down at a moderate intensity at times throughout the overnight hours of Friday night. In fact, the snow may be heavy at times during the overnight hours of Friday night across Western Mass where the higher snow totals are expected.

The snow is then expected to come to an end around sunrise Saturday morning. This means that this entire storm will occur during the overnight hours of Friday night leading to minimal travel issues.

Here is my thinking in terms of snow totals for Friday night across the area:

Central Mass:

Northern Worcester County: 1 to 2 Inches.

Central Worcester County, including the Worcester Metro: Around 2 Inches.

Southeastern Worcester County, including Route 146: 1 to 2 Inches.

South-Central Worcester County, including I-395: 2 to 3 Inches.

Southwestern Worcester County, including I-84: 2 to 3 Inches.

Western Mass:

Upper Pioneer Valley: 2 to 3 Inches.

Middle Pioneer Valley: 3 to 4 Inches.

Lower Pioneer Valley, including Springfield Metro: 4 to 5 Inches.

This is expected to be a light and fluffy snow, that'll be easy to shovel.

Also, it should be noted that some of the newer higher resolution weather forecast guidance is hinting at a larger snowfall across much of Western and Central Mass. At this point, I'm not buying into the higher snow totals that these weather guidance is showing, but I will be monitoring things extremely closely & will have a new update during the day on Friday, along with an actual snowfall forecast map.