Forecast For Southern & Central Worcester County & The Connecticut River Valley (Includes Mass Pike, I-290, I-84, I-395, Route 146, I-91, Springfield Metro & Worcester Metro): It is expected to rain for several hours this evening before it ends for a while during the after midnight hours of tonight into the first part of Wednesday morning.
Rain will begin again by the mid and late morning hours of Wednesday with the rain continuing through Wednesday afternoon. Some sleet and snow will mix in with the rain by about late Wednesday afternoon. It will become increasingly more windy during Wednesday with northeast winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30-35 mph.
Turning to Wednesday night, it appears that some colder air will drain down into the region as that coastal storm strengthens. Because of this, it appears that a mix of snow, sleet and rain can be expected throughout Wednesday night and it may come down heavily at times. In fact, a flip to all snow and sleet is possible at times, especially when the precipitation is falling at a heavy rate. In addition to this, it is expected to be very windy on Wednesday night with northeast winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50-60 mph.
Thursday looks as if we’ll see a mix of rain, sleet and snow throughout the day with the precipitation coming to an end during Thursday evening. It will also continue to be very windy throughout Thursday with north to northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-50 mph.
Rainfall Amounts: Looks like around 2 inches of rainfall in total can be expected through Thursday with most of that falling from Wednesday afternoon through Wednesday night.
Snow & Sleet Amounts: This continues to be the most difficult part of the forecast as the atmosphere is going to be marginal at best to support accumulating snow and sleet. That said, heavy mixed precipitation at times on Wednesday night could lead to an accumulation of snow and sleet to occur.
My thinking is that snow amounts will range from less than one inch for the lower Pioneer Valley of Western Mass, including the Springfield metro to 1 to 2 inches of slushy snow for the middle and upper Pioneer Valley of Western Mass as well as for areas near and south of the Mass Pike, including I-84, I-395 and Route 146.
For areas north of the Mass Pike, including the Worcester Metro, the Route 9 corridor and I-290, snow amounts of 2 to 3 inches seem possible. The exception may be around the north side of Worcester and up by Worcester airport where 3 to 4 inches of wet snow could occur.
Forecast For Northern Worcester County & The Berkshires (Includes Route 2 & The I-190 Corridor North Of Worcester): It is expected to rain for several hours this evening before it ends for a while during the after midnight hours of tonight into the first part of Wednesday morning.
Rain will begin again by the mid and late morning hours of Wednesday with the rain becoming a mix of rain, sleet and snow during Wednesday afternoon. It will become increasingly more windy during Wednesday with northeast winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30-35 mph.
Turning to Wednesday night, it appears that some colder air will drain down into the region as that coastal storm strengthens. Because of this, it appears that a mix of snow and sleet can be expected throughout Wednesday night and it may come down heavily at times. In addition to this, it is expected to be very windy on Wednesday night with northeast winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50-60 mph.
Thursday looks as if we’ll see a mix of snow and sleet throughout the day with the precipitation coming to an end during Thursday evening. It will also continue to be very windy throughout Thursday with north to northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-50 mph.
Snow & Sleet Amounts: The snow and sleet accumulation forecast continues to be a very difficult one as the atmosphere is going to be marginal at best to support accumulating snow and sleet. That said, heavy snow and sleet at times on Wednesday night could lead to several inches of wet, heavy snow to occur.
My thinking is that snow amounts will range from about 4 to 5 inches of snow around Holden, Paxton, Rutland, Princeton and Barre to 5 to 8 inches of snow near and especially north of the Route 2 corridor. As for the Berkshires, it appears that snow totals of 6 to 10 inches can be expected.
This wet and heavy snow combined with the very windy conditions on Wednesday night and Thursday is likely to lead to downed trees and power lines leading to power outage issues.