Several Rounds Of Winter Weather Is Expected For The Next Several Days Across Western & Central Mass

Tonight Through Sunday: An active winter weather pattern is expected to begin tonight and Sunday across Western and Central Mass. This active winter weather pattern is expected to last through the end of next week. Tonight and Sunday’s winter weather event is expected to be quite minimal with light snow expected to overspread areas along and south of the Mass Pike around midnight tonight. This light snow is expected to only last for a few hours and end just before sunrise Sunday morning. Any snow accumulation will be less than one inch. A second round of wintry precipitation consisting of light sleet, light snow and freezing drizzle will move in just after sunrise Sunday morning across much of Western and Central Mass. This icy mixture is expected to last through the morning on Sunday and come to an end around midday Sunday. A very light glaze of ice is possible during Sunday morning and this could some very slippery road conditions. Low temperatures tonight will be between 15 and 20 Degrees. High temperatures Sunday will be near 30 Degrees. Sunday Night & Monday: An area of low pressure is expected to track well south of New England. There is expected to be an east to northeast moist wind flow present and thus I would not be surprised to see some areas of very light snow, sleet and freezing drizzle across the area. Most areas should stay dry, but a few spots may see light icing conditions and slick conditions. Low temperatures Sunday night will be near 20 Degrees. On Monday, deeper overrunning moisture will begin to head northeastward towards our area. This poses a big forecasting problem as there are significant questions with whether this moisture will arrive here & if so, will it be in the form of snow or ice. At this point, I’m going with a much more pessimistic forecast & I think that we will probably see a light snow and sleet mixture north of the Mass Pike starting around midday Monday and continuing through Monday afternoon. Along and south of the Mass Pike, some spotty light freezing rain and sleet is possible during Monday afternoon. Amounts of snow and ice across the entire area will be light, but even a little bit of ice will lead to hazardous travel conditions along and south of the Mass Pike. High temperatures Monday will be near 30 Degrees. Significant Winter Weather Possible Monday Night Into Tuesday: An area of low pressure is expected to track from the Gulf of Mexico on Monday to near the South Coast of New England by Tuesday afternoon. The track of this storm system is going to be extremely crucial in determining whether this storm will bring mostly all snow to our area or an all-out ice storm. I continue to have a hard time believing the weather forecast guidance that are pushing this storm system inland across New England, especially with the Arctic dome over northern New England. I still think that we should see a low pressure system track along the Southern New England coast or just offshore. All this means is that we should see a potpourri of winter precipitation across the entire area beginning Monday evening and continuing through all of Monday night and Tuesday morning. Heavy Snow Threat – Areas along and north of Route 2 have the best chance of seeing more than 6 inches of wet, heavy snow with this storm for Monday night and Tuesday morning. This includes the far upper Pioneer Valley and northern Worcester County. Ice Storm Threat – I have considerable concerns that areas from the lower Pioneer Valley eastward to southern Worcester County and southward into northern and central Connecticut have the highest chance of seeing significant amounts of freezing rain and sleet on Monday night and Tuesday morning. This area includes Springfield, Worcester and Hartford. Upwards of one half of an inch of ice is possible and this could lead to extremely hazardous travel conditions, power outages and tree damage. This is a storm that I am watching extremely closely and I will have at least once a day updates for you between now and Tuesday. Another Snow & Ice Storm Is Possible From Thursday Afternoon To Friday Morning: Yet another storm system is expected to reach Southern New England by Friday morning. Yet again, I think that some of the weather forecast guidance may be tracking this third storm too far inland as there’s likely to be a dome of Arctic air present nearby & this should block this storm from an inland path. Instead, I’m leaning more towards yet another coastal track. At this point, I think that a mix of snow and freezing rain is possible north of the Mass Pike and mostly all freezing rain is possible along and south of the Mass Pike from Thursday afternoon through Thursday night and Friday morning. This storm could bring six inches or greater of snow and sleet north of the Mass Pike and the possibility of significant ice accumulations along and south of the Mass Pike. Bottom Line Is That this upcoming week looks like a complete and utter mess for winter weather. You should know that Wednesday and next Saturday will be the clean up days. Also, this is an extremely challenging and uncertain winter weather forecast and changes and refinements to the forecast are certain in the coming days.