Offshore Storm May Bring Some Freezing Drizzle, Light Freezing Rain & Light Rain Wednesday

For This Afternoon: Partly sunny skies are expected this afternoon as an area of high pressure controls our weather. High temperatures this afternoon will be between 30 and 35 Degrees. Tonight: Partly cloudy skies are expected tonight as a frontal system passes well north of our area. Low temperatures tonight will be near 25 Degrees. Tuesday: A partly sunny day is expected on Tuesday with colder air expected to gradually build into the area during the afternoon. Temperatures will initially rise to near 40 Degrees by midday, but then fall into the 30s during the afternoon. Wednesday: The weather forecast has become a little more “interesting” for Wednesday as an area of low pressure passes to the east of Nantucket by Wednesday afternoon. Over the past 24 hours or so, the weather forecast guidance has trended westward with its forecast track of this storm. Because of this westward shift in the track, the swath of precipitation from this storm is now likely to affect parts of Western and Central Mass during Wednesday. The question now becomes what form will the precipitation be in when it falls. Temperatures to start the day on Wednesday look to be in the 28 to 32 Degree range and this could be cold enough for some light spotty freezing rain and freezing drizzle to fall across the area during Wednesday morning. While I don’t foresee widespread icing problems across the area, I do think that it may be just cold enough so that some spotty slick spots are possible during Wednesday morning. The most vulnerable spots will be sidewalks, parking lots, bridges and overpasses. Any light freezing rain or freezing drizzle will change to light rain and drizzle by midday as temperatures rise to above freezing. Some spotty light rain and drizzle is then expected to continue through Wednesday afternoon with temperatures in the mid to upper 30s. All precipitation is expected to come to an end by late afternoon Wednesday. Thursday: An area of high pressure will gradually build into the area for Thursday with plenty of sunshine expected. High temperatures Thursday will be between 30 and 35 Degrees. Christmas Eve: A warm front is expected to pass through the area during the day on Christmas Eve. There could be just enough lift and moisture with this front to produce some light snow leading to a White Christmas "miracle" across the region. At this point, I don’t think that it’ll be enough snow to cause travel issues, but it could be enough so that the ground is whitened. So, I think we may see light snow occur across all of Western and Central Mass beginning just before sunrise Christmas Eve and then continuing through the entire morning on Christmas Eve. The light snow looks to come to an end across the region during the first half of the afternoon on Christmas Eve. As I already said, I think that snow accumulations may be on the light side with perhaps 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulations possible. High temperatures on Christmas Eve will be near 35 Degrees. Christmas Day: I am still keeping an eye on an area of low pressure and its associated frontal system for Christmas Day as it could bring some weather impacts. The trends in the weather forecast guidance over the last 24 hours have been for a further south low pressure track, but also for a more sheared out storm system. What this means is that this could lead to an all snow event on Christmas Day, but with the sheared look of this system, any snow would probably be light in intensity. These trends in the weather forecast guidance are not surprising to me and in fact I mentioned that it could happen. It appears that some blocking in the atmosphere over eastern Canada looks to deflect this storm system on a more southerly course and also cause it to possibly weaken as it moves through. At this point, my current thinking is for periods of light snow during the day on Christmas Day that could put down an inch or two of accumulation. Not enough to cause travel problems, but definitely enough for actual snow on Christmas! High temperatures on Christmas Day will be near 35 Degrees. Sunday: That low pressure system will move off to the east on Sunday, but it may still be close enough to produce a mixture of sunshine and clouds during Sunday. High temperatures Sunday will be near 40 Degrees.