Next Week Looks Very Active & Stormy For Weather Across Western & Central Mass

For The Rest Of Today: Lots of clouds are expected across the region the rest of today. In addition, some scattered rain shower activity is expected this afternoon. Today will be the warmest day this week with high temperatures this afternoon near 55 Degrees. It will also be windy, especially this afternoon, with southwest winds gusting up to 30 to 35 mph at times. Tonight: A cold front is expected to push across the region this evening with colder air moving in after midnight. Scattered rain showers are expected this evening. Once the cold front moves through, I think that we could see some isolated snow shower activity after midnight, especially in the Berkshires and the Worcester Hills. Low temperatures tonight will be between 30 and 35 Degrees. West winds are expected to gust up to 30 to 35 mph at times. Friday: A sunny day is expected on Friday with colder temperatures and windy conditions. High temperatures Friday will be between 40 and 45 Degrees. West to northwest winds are expected to gust up to 30 to 35 mph at times. Saturday & Sunday: A weather disturbance is expected to move across northern New England. After some morning sunshine, I think that we will probably see a mixture of sunshine and clouds during the afternoon. In addition, a very isolated snow or rain shower is possible, especially in the northern Worcester Hills. High temperatures Saturday will be between 40 and 45 Degrees. Sunshine is expected on Sunday with high temperatures between 40 and 45 Degrees. Very Active & Stormy Weather Is Expected Next Week: The weather pattern still looks like it’ll be active and stormy next week with the chance for a storm system moving through roughly every other day. It appears that each of these low pressure systems will track right along a temperature gradient that delineates mild air to the south and cold air located over far northern New England and southern Canada. Storm Number One For Late Sunday Night & Monday – This looks to be mostly an all rain event as a low pressure system heads across Southern Canada. Some initial short-lived snow or freezing rain late Sunday night or early Monday morning will quickly change to rain during Monday morning with periods of rain persisting through Monday afternoon. A cold front pushes through by Monday evening and this will lead to any leftover rain showers to change to snow showers during Monday evening. What this first storm system will do is set up the table for the second storm system. This table will have cold air with it that could play a crucial role for the second storm. Storm Number Two For Late Wednesday Into Thursday Morning – An area of low pressure is expected to take a slightly further south track than storm number 1 with a track that takes it either right across Southern New England or just south of New England. This means that snow could be a big issue with the second storm with significant accumulations of snow quite possible. There are at least a couple of caveats with the snow forecast. The first is that the milder air may be close enough so that the snow could either mix with sleet and rain or change to all rain at some point during the storm. This brings us to the second caveat and that is a cold high pressure system over Atlantic Canada could try to help to lock in the cold air, so that the precipitation stays as mostly all snow. For now, the most appropriate forecast is for accumulating snow to start with beginning Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday evening that changes to sleet and then possibly to rain late Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Storm then comes to an end by Thursday afternoon. I think the main takeaway is that at least some snow accumulation seems quite plausible – how much has yet to be determined, but this is a storm system that merits very close watching. Storm Number Three For Very Late Thursday Night Into Friday – There may be very little in the way of a break between storm systems as a third low pressure system heads into New England. Early preliminary indications are that this storm could be another mild one with maybe a little snow and freezing rain to start with late Thursday night that quickly changes to rain during Friday. It’s still early in the ballgame for trying to figure out what the final score may be and a lot can change between now and late next week. I am keeping a very close eye on all three storms and will have frequent updates for you as needed.