For This Afternoon & Tonight: Lots of sunshine is expected for this afternoon and it will be windy. Temperatures this afternoon will gradually fall from the lower 50s through the 40s. West winds will gust up to 35 mph at times.
Clear to partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to increasing clouds after midnight as an area of low pressure approaches the area from the Ohio Valley. Low temperatures tonight will be near 30 Degrees.
Snow, Sleet & Freezing Rain Expected On Saturday & Saturday Night: An area of low pressure is expected to move along the south coast of New England on Saturday night. This storm system will bring a messy mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain to all of Western and Central Mass beginning as early as mid to late morning Saturday and continuing through all of Saturday afternoon and Saturday night.
I think that the demarcation line between mostly all snow and a real messy mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain will be Route 9.
So, let me break down this storm for you:
North Of Route 9, The Far Upper Pioneer Valley & The Berkshires: Snow is expected to begin late Saturday morning and then continue through all of Saturday afternoon. A change to sleet is possible across areas south of Route 2 during Saturday evening with areas near and north of Route 2 remain as all snow through Saturday night.
The snow and sleet mixture is expected to come to an end around sunrise Sunday morning.
The highest snow totals of 3 to 5 inches or so are likely to occur near and north of Route 2, while areas south of Route 2, but north of Route 9 end up with around 3 inches of snow and about one quarter to one half of an inch of sleet.
Near & South Of Route 9 & The Lower Pioneer Valley: Snow is expected to begin around late morning on Saturday with the snow continuing for a while into early Saturday afternoon. A change from snow to sleet is expected to occur around mid-afternoon. A full-blown sleet storm still looks to occur during the late afternoon and evening hours of Saturday across areas near and south of Route 9, including the entire Mass Pike.
A change to some freezing rain still looks possible for areas near and south of the Mass Pike later Saturday night, but I think the bigger story will be the sleet accumulations rather than any ice accumulation.
The sleet and some freezing rain is expected to come to an end around sunrise on Sunday morning.
Snow accumulations of around 2 inches seem likely near and south of Route 9 with around 1 inch of sleet expected. The exception to this will be across the far lower Pioneer Valley and south of the Mass Pike where a combination of 1 to 2 inches of snow, up to one inch of sleet and up to one tenth of an inch of ice accumulation is expected.
If you have plans for Saturday afternoon and Saturday night, be aware that the roads will likely be a real mess, especially after sunset Saturday. If it’s possible, delay any plans you have for Saturday afternoon and Saturday night to Sunday.
