For Tonight: Partly cloudy skies are expected tonight across the entire area. Low temperatures will be between 25 and 30 Degrees. Winds will be Northwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.
Friday: A quiet day in terms of weather is expected as a high pressure system briefly moves across the region.
Sunny to partly sunny skies will start the day with an increase in clouds expected during the afternoon.
High temperatures will be near 40 Degrees. Winds will be Northwest at 5 to 10 mph in the morning and Northeast at 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
A Plowable Snowfall With Some Sleet Is Expected From Friday Night Through Saturday: An area of low pressure is forecast to track near the south coast of New England on Saturday morning. This is a type of track that will help to lock in cold air near the ground. That said, some milder air will try to nose into the region, but the big question is how far north will this mild air push into the region. This is important because if we see a colder overall temperature profile in the atmosphere, it would lead to quite the snowstorm across the entire area. Alternatively, if we see a robust push of milder air, it would lead to a mixed bag of wintry precipitation across the entire area.
At this point, I think that the Berkshires and the northern Worcester Hills have the greatest chance of seeing almost all snow with this storm with accumulations of 8 to 12 inches expected. Further south, a mixed bag that starts as heavy snow Friday evening and then changes to sleet later Friday night before changing back to snow during Saturday looks possible as we get near and south of the Mass Pike with snow amounts of 5 to 8 inches expected. In fact, areas around the lower Pioneer Valley of Western Mass may see even less snow with amounts of 4 to 5 inches possible.
Here Is What I’m Currently Thinking Region By Region:
For Areas Near & South Of The Mass Pike: Snow will begin across areas near and south of the Mass Pike by about 9-10 pm Friday evening. I still think that there will be a burst of heavy snow with snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour expected from about 9-10 pm until about 2-3 am Friday night.
Some milder air should push northward late Friday night and because of this, we should see the snow change to sleet, first across the lower Pioneer Valley of Western Mass by about 2 am and then across other areas near and south of the Mass Pike by about 3 am.
Sleet then looks to continue right through the very late night hours of Friday night and through sunrise Saturday morning across areas near and south of the Mass Pike. Some freezing rain could mix in with the sleet across areas around the Springfield Metro near sunrise Saturday morning.
During Saturday morning, it appears that sleet will continue across regions near and south of the Mass Pike. The exception looks to be across areas in the lower Pioneer Valley of Western Mass where freezing rain and rain may occur during Saturday morning.
A change back to snow looks possible during Saturday afternoon with the snow ending from west to east during the early evening hours of Saturday.
Combined snow and sleet totals for areas near and south of the Mass Pike looks to be between 5 and 6 inches with 4 to 5 inches of snow accumulation expected for the lower Pioneer Valley of Western Mass.
For Areas North Of The Mass Pike, But South Of Route 2: Snow will begin across areas north of the Mass Pike by about 9-10 pm Friday evening. I still think that there will be a burst of heavy snow with snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour expected from about 9-10 pm until about 3-4 am.
Some milder air should push northward very late Friday night and because of this, we should see the snow change to sleet across areas north of the Mass Pike by about 3-4 am or so.
Sleet then looks to continue right through sunrise Saturday morning across areas north of the Mass Pike.
During Saturday morning, it appears that sleet will continue across regions north of the Mass Pike.
A change back to snow looks possible during Saturday afternoon with the snow ending from west to east during the early evening hours of Saturday.
Combined snow and sleet totals for areas north of the Mass Pike looks to be between 6 and 8 inches.
For Areas Near & North Of Route 2: Snow will begin across areas north of the Mass Pike by about 9-10 pm Friday evening. I still think that there will be a burst of heavy snow with snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour expected from the time it begins until the very late night hours of Friday night.
It remains to be seen whether areas near and north of Route 2 change from snow to sleet during the late night hours. At this point, I could envision a scenario where ares north of Route 2 stays as snow, but areas near Route 2 change to sleet for a while during Saturday morning.
Any sleet will change back to snow during Saturday afternoon with the snow ending from west to east during the early evening hours of Saturday.
Combined snow and sleet totals for areas near and north of the Mass Pike looks to be between 8 and 12 inches.
