Saturday Evening Update On The Expected Major Winter Storm For Sunday Night & All Day Monday

A Major Winter Storm Is Still Expected On Sunday Night & Monday: There are no real big changes to the forecast for the expected major winter storm that is expected to impact all of Western and Central Mass during Sunday night and all day Monday. This storm will not only bring heavy amounts of snow, but also will bring strong winds leading to blizzard conditions across much of the area.

An area of low pressure is expected to rapidly strengthen as it tracks off of the Mid-Atlantic coast during the day on Sunday. This intense low pressure system is then forecast to track towards the northeast passing just to the south of Long Island during late Sunday night and Monday morning and then near Nantucket during Monday afternoon. This is expected to be a very intense storm system & because of this, it will be able to produce not only a lot of wind, but also a lot of snow.

WHEN IS THE SNOW EXPECTED TO BEGIN? Snow is expected to begin across all of Western and Central Mass between about 7 pm and 10 pm Sunday evening. The snow will then increase in intensity as the night progresses on Sunday night & we near dawn on Monday morning.

WHEN WILL THE WORST PART OF THIS STORM BE? Heavy to very heavy snow with snow rates of up to 1 to 3 inches per hour is expected to occur beginning during the predawn hours of Monday morning. This heavy to very heavy snow is then expected to continue through all of Monday morning and into early Monday afternoon. Again, snowfall rates of up to 1 to 3 inches per hour are expected throughout all of Monday morning into early Monday afternoon. The snow may then begin to lighten up some in intensity as we get into the late afternoon hours of Monday.

WHEN IS THIS STORM EXPECTED TO BE FINISHED UP? The snow is then expected to come to an end then looks to possibly come to an end between about 9 pm and midnight Monday night.

FORECAST SNOW TOTALS: You can find my latest forecast snowfall map for this storm attached to this post. As you can see, I have increased the snow totals across much of the area due to the latest data that seems to point towards widespread snow totals of 1 to 2 feet across the entire area.

HOW STRONG WILL THE WINDS BE? In addition to the heavy snow, it is expected to be quite windy during Sunday night and Monday leading to blizzard conditions. Winds on Sunday night will be Northeast at 15 to 20 mph before midnight and Northeast at 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-45 mph after midnight. Winds during the day on Monday will be North at 25 to 30 mph with gusts to 40-50 mph.

HOW BAD IS THIS STORM EXPECTED TO BE? The combination of heavy snow and blizzard conditions Sunday night and Monday will make for extremely difficult travel conditions. Plow crews are going to have a very difficult time keeping up with the very heavy snow accumulations and the very significant amounts of blowing and drifting snow that will occur. Because of this, my advice to you is to stay off of the roads, if it at all possible throughout all of Sunday night and all of Monday.

Also, this is expected to be a somewhat wet & heavy snow & thus the snow will cling to trees and powerlines. The combination of the snow sticking to trees and powerlines & the strong winds will probably lead to scattered power outages during Sunday night & Monday.

Frequent updates on this major winter storm will be posted here leading up to & during the actual storm. So, make sure to check back often for the latest updates.