A “Kitchen Sink” Type Winter Storm Is Very Possible Thursday Through Friday

For This Afternoon: An easterly wind flow will continue to produce cloudy skies across Central Mass with partly sunny skies expected across Western Mass. In addition, it’s possible that there could be a snow shower or two later this afternoon across Central Mass. Temperatures this afternoon will be between 30 and 35 Degrees. Tonight: Cloudy skies are expected tonight and there’s likely to be a snow shower or two this evening. After midnight, it’s possible that we could see some very spotty freezing drizzle over Western and especially Central Mass. Low temperatures tonight will be near 25 Degrees. Wednesday: Lots of low-level moisture will remain in place across the entire area during Wednesday. This means that cloudy skies are expected throughout Wednesday and there’s likely to be spotty freezing drizzle around during the morning. High temperatures Wednesday afternoon will be near 40 Degrees. A “Kitchen Sink” Type Winter Storm Is Very Possible Thursday Through Friday: What a messy end of the week it could be across Western and Central Mass with rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow all very possible. The weather setup for late this week is going to include an Arctic frontal boundary that’s going to push southward into New England. At the same time, a ton of moisture is expected to push northeastward towards our area. The combination of the cold air moving in with the abundant moisture means big trouble, I think. With that said, it's going to be a big timing game with that cold air. There are at least three potential scenarios at play here: 1. If the cold air from the Arctic front is slow to push into the area, it would mean mostly all rain across all of Western and Central Mass on Thursday, Thursday night and most of Friday with a change to sleet and snow at the very end of the storm late Friday. Minor snow and sleet amounts would occur in this scenario. 2. If that cold air moves in rapidly with the Arctic front, it would mean rain Thursday morning that rapidly changes to sleet and then snow from north to south during Thursday afternoon. Snow would then occur Thursday night and Friday with heavy snow amounts in this scenario. 3. A scenario that's somewhere in the middle of scenario 1 and scenario 2 would mean rain on Thursday that changes to sleet north of the Mass Pike and freezing rain near and south of the Mass Pike Thursday night and then to all snow north of the Mass Pike and sleet near and south of the Mass Pike during Friday. Getting this right is going to be a huge challenge and there's all kinds of uncertainty attached to it. Here Are My First Initial Thoughts On How This Storm May Affect Western & Central Mass: North Of The Mass Pike: Rain begins around sunrise Thursday morning and continues throughout the day Thursday. A change from rain to sleet is possible Thursday evening with a change from sleet to snow possible late Thursday night. Snow is then expected to continue during the day on Friday and into Friday evening before it ends around midnight Friday night. At this point, I think that 3 to 6 inches of a combination of snow and sleet is possible across areas north of the Mass Pike. It should be pointed out that temperatures are expected to fall throughout this storm from the upper 30s during Thursday into the lower 30s Thursday night and into the 20s on Friday. In fact, by Friday evening, temperatures will be in the teens. This means that everything that falls on Thursday, Thursday night and Friday will very likely freeze solid and remain a frozen block through this weekend. Near & South Of The Mass Pike: Rain begins around sunrise Thursday morning and continues through the day on Thursday. The rain is then expected to persist into Thursday evening before it changes to freezing rain around midnight Thursday night. A period of freezing rain is possible during the after midnight hours of Thursday night until about sunrise Friday morning. A change from freezing rain to sleet is possible early Friday morning with sleet persisting throughout all of Friday morning into the first half of Friday afternoon. A change from sleet to snow may then occur later Friday afternoon with the snow continuing through the first half of Friday night. The snow is expected to end around midnight Friday night. Snow and sleet accumulations of 2 to 4 inches are possible near and south of the Mass Pike. Ice amounts of around one tenth of an inch is possible. It should be pointed out that temperatures are expected to fall throughout this storm from the upper 30s during Thursday into the lower 30s Thursday night and into the 20s on Friday. In fact, by Friday evening, temperatures will be in the teens. This means that everything that falls on Thursday, Thursday night and Friday will very likely freeze solid and remain a frozen block through this weekend. I am watching the late week storm extremely closely and will have updates as needed. Saturday & Sunday: Much colder air moves in for the weekend with yet another storm to watch for Sunday. Saturday is expected to be partly sunny with high temperatures between 20 and 25 Degrees. We will need to watch the weather for Sunday as some of the weather forecast guidance are forecasting another coastal storm to affect us. At this point, it’s way too early to determine what sort of track it takes, just know that snow is a possibility during the day on Sunday. High temperatures Sunday will be near 30 Degrees.