For Tonight: Widespread showers are expected to overspread Western Mass by about 8-9 pm and then overspread Central Mass by about 9-10 pm. These widespread showers are expected to last until about midnight or so with the showers ending shortly after midnight.
The showers this evening will likely be heavy in intensity and there may even be a rumble or two of thunder.
Another round of showers are expected to affect the entire area by about 4-6 am Wednesday morning and continue through sunrise Wednesday morning.
Temperatures tonight will be between 45 and 50 Degrees. Winds will be South at 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph.
Wednesday: A powerhouse of a cold front is expected to push across the central and eastern Great Lakes region during the day on Wednesday. There will be plenty of showers, mild temperatures and quite windy conditions out ahead of this front.
Widespread on and off showers are expected throughout the day on Wednesday.
It will be quite windy throughout the day on Wednesday with South winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 40-50 mph expected.
High temperatures Wednesday will be near 55 Degrees.
Very Wild Weather Is Expected On Wednesday Night: It still looks like the weather will get very wild for a while during Wednesday night as a powerful cold front moves through the region.
Out ahead of this front, expect widespread showers, some of which will be heavy in intensity, a couple of thunderstorms and very windy conditions from about 7 pm to about 9 pm.
A squall line of heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms will traverse the area around the 9-10 pm time frame. This squall line will signal the passage of the strong cold front. Expect 50-65 mph wind gusts when this squall line moves through.
The passage of this front will be really something as I’m expecting a rapid temperature drop from the 50s to near 30 Degrees within about a 30 minute time frame. In addition, the rain will rapidly change to sleet and then snow when the front moves through. The winds will also rapidly shift into a west to northwest direction and gust to 50-60 mph. I expect all of this to occur around 9-10 pm across Western Mass and around 10-11 pm across Central Mass.
This all means that a “flash freeze” is expected first across Western Mass around 9-10 pm and then across Central Mass around 10-11 pm. Extremely slippery travel conditions will rapidly develop first across Western Mass around 9-10 pm and then across Central Mass around 10-11 pm.
In addition, up to one inch of snow accumulation looks likely when the rain changes to snow. The exception looks to be across the northern Worcester Hills where 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulation looks possible. The snow looks to last until about midnight-1 am across the entire area.
Extremely slippery travel conditions are expected to last until well after midnight Wednesday night due to the combination of the “flash freeze” and the snow accumulations. It should be noted that these icy and slippery conditions could persist well into Thursday morning.
How windy will it be on Wednesday night? At this time, I am anticipating South winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 60 mph early in the evening. The winds will shift into a West to Northwest direction at 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 60 mph towards midnight. During the after midnight hours, I expect West to Northwest winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 60 mph. Downed trees, downed power lines and scattered power outages are expected across the entire area throughout Wednesday night.
Temperatures will bottom out at near 25 Degrees by late Wednesday night.
Thursday: Even though Thursday looks like a bright and sunny day, it is expected to be cold and very windy.
High temperatures will be between 30 and 35 Degrees. Winds will be West to Northwest at 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph. The continued strong winds during the day on Thursday will lead to a continued risk for power outages, downed trees and downed power lines.