A Messy Mixture Of Wintry Precipitation Expected On Saturday Across Western & Central Mass

For The Rest Of Today: Lots of sunshine is expected throughout the rest of today. High temperatures this afternoon will be between 45 and 50 Degrees. Tonight: Partly cloudy skies are expected tonight with low temperatures between 20 and 25 Degrees. Wednesday: An area of high pressure will move to the east during Wednesday, which will allow for a southerly wind flow to set up across the area. Skies will start out partly sunny, but will become cloudy by afternoon. In addition, some rain shower activity is expected to overspread Western Mass by late afternoon. High temperatures Wednesday will be between 40 and 45 Degrees. Wednesday Night: A warm front is expected to push northward across the region on Wednesday night bringing with it on and off rain shower activity. Temperatures are expected to rise from 35 to 40 Degrees during the evening to near 45 Degrees late at night. Thursday Through Friday: Thursday will be the mildest day of this week with high temperatures between 55 and 60 Degrees. In addition, it will be cloudy throughout the day on Thursday. A cold front is expected to push through the region late Thursday night into Friday morning. All-in-all though, this front is pretty dry and any shower activity later Thursday night and early Friday morning will be very spotty. In fact, much of the day on Friday will be sunny to partly sunny. Low temperatures Thursday night will be near 45 Degrees. High temperatures Friday will be between 50 and 55 Degrees. Saturday: An area of low pressure is expected to track across some part of southern or central New England during Saturday and Saturday night. It looks likely that this storm system will probably bring a messy mixture of wintry precipitation to Western and Central Mass. With that said, it’s still very unclear as to where exactly the changeover line from snow to ice to rain will set up. The weather forecast guidance, as usual, have differing solutions with the GFS model forecasting all snow north of Route 9, an icy mixture from the Route 9 corridor to about the Mass Pike and mostly all rain south of the Mass Pike. The Canadian weather model is forecasting snow along and north of Route 2 and mostly all rain south of Route 2. The European weather model is showing all snow across the entire area with snow accumulations on the order of 3 to 6 inches. Here Are My Thoughts: I’m still not convinced that we are going to be cold enough for an all snow event across Western and Central Mass. Instead, I think that we’re looking more at a messy mixture of snow, sleet and rain with the demarcation lines between each still to be determined. I think the area with the greatest chance to remain as all snow may be near and north of Route 9 where perhaps 2 to 4 inches or so of snow accumulation may occur. South of Route 9, I think we may see a scenario where it starts out as snow during Saturday morning with maybe an inch or two of snow accumulation. By Saturday afternoon though, the snow may change to a rain and sleet mixture. It’s also possible that all precipitation may end as snow across the entire area during Saturday evening. If you have plans for Saturday, it’s a really good idea to keep up to date on the latest forecasts as they will likely need to be refined and honed in on over the next couple of days or so. Sunday: An area of high pressure is expected to build into the area for Sunday bringing with it partly sunny skies. High temperatures Sunday will be between 35 and 40 Degrees. Next Week’s Weather Outlook: Unfortunately, the weather pattern for next week continues to look active with at least two storms to really keep an eye on. The first storm system that I’m keeping a very close eye on is for next Tuesday. Some of the weather forecast guidance are suggesting this could be an important and impactful winter storm, but after getting burned badly already by potential bad data recently – I’m not about to bite. Instead, I’ll say that there could be accumulating snow for next Tuesday that could be enough to plow. Unfortunately, there’s a second storm system that may be something to keep an eye on for Christmas Eve. At this point, it’s WAY too early to determine what type of precipitation may occur or how much may accumulate. I do think, however, it’s a possible system that could impact Christmas Eve travel, especially across areas north of the Mass Pike where there may be a higher chance for snow or ice.