Update On The Ongoing Storm

Snow is now falling across the entire area as of the time of this writing. Over the next few hours, however, it is expected that the snow will change to sleet from south to north and then eventually to freezing rain after midnight tonight. Here are the latest details on what I’m expecting region by region: Areas Near & South Of The Mass Pike, Including I-84, I-395 & Route 146: Snow likely will change to sleet within the next hour or so. Sleet then is expected to change to freezing rain just after midnight tonight with the freezing rain expected to continue through the late night hours of tonight right through the Thursday morning commute. Freezing rain mixed with sleet at times looks to continue until about late morning Thursday when this first batch of precipitation will end. At the same time the precipitation is ending, it looks very likely that temperatures will fall from the low 30s around the 7 to 8 am time frame to near 25 Degrees by late morning Thursday. This sudden drop in temperatures is likely to lead to black ice issues on roads, driveways and parking lots starting around late morning and continuing through the afternoon hours of Thursday. In addition, areas of freezing drizzle is likely throughout Thursday afternoon, which will lead to icy conditions. It should be noted that afternoon temperatures will hover between 20 and 25 Degrees, which will be sufficiently cold enough for any freezing drizzle to automatically freeze on all objects. A second round of precipitation in the form of freezing rain is expected to occur between about 9-10 pm and about 2 am Thursday night and it looks possible that the freezing rain could be moderate to heavy in intensity at times. All precipitation will come to an end just after 2 am or so Thursday night. It is the ice accumulations from the freezing rain that are of most concern. At this time, it appears that ice amounts late tonight into Thursday morning will average between one tenth (0.10”) and two tenths (0.20”) of an inch. Additional ice amounts Thursday night look to average between one tenth (0.10”) and two tenths (0.20”) of an inch. The accumulation of snow, sleet and freezing rain along with black ice and freezing drizzle is going to produce very slippery conditions on all surfaces, including roads, driveways and parking lots. This means that very poor travel conditions are expected to occur right through Thursday and Thursday night. Also, we’re going to have to keep an eye on the potential for downed tree limbs and power lines due to ice accumulation on these objects. Of particular concern will be during late Thursday night and Friday when northwest winds gusting up to 40 mph could put extra strain on trees and power lines leading to a possible enhancement of downed tree limbs and power lines. Areas North Of The Mass Pike, But South Of Route 2: Snow likely will change to sleet within the next couple of hours. Sleet then is expected to change to freezing rain just after midnight tonight with the freezing rain expected to continue through the late night hours of tonight right through the Thursday morning commute. Freezing rain mixed with sleet at times looks to continue until about late morning Thursday when this first batch of precipitation will end. At the same time the precipitation is ending, it looks very likely that temperatures will fall from the low 30s around the 7 to 8 am time frame to near 20 Degrees by late morning Thursday. This sudden drop in temperatures is likely to lead to black ice issues on roads, driveways and parking lots starting around late morning and continuing through the afternoon hours of Thursday. In addition, areas of freezing drizzle is likely throughout Thursday afternoon, which will lead to icy conditions. It should be noted that afternoon temperatures will hover around 20 Degrees, which will be sufficiently cold enough for any freezing drizzle to automatically freeze on all objects. A second round of precipitation in the form of freezing rain is expected to occur between about 9-10 pm and about 2 am Thursday night and it looks possible that the freezing rain could be moderate to heavy in intensity at times. All precipitation will come to an end just after 2 am or so Thursday night. It is the ice accumulations from the freezing rain that are of most concern. At this time, it appears that ice amounts late tonight into Thursday morning will average between one tenth (0.10”) and two tenths (0.20”) of an inch. Additional ice amounts Thursday night look to average between one tenth (0.10”) and two tenths (0.20”) of an inch. The accumulation of snow, sleet and freezing rain along with black ice and freezing drizzle is going to produce very slippery conditions on all surfaces, including roads, driveways and parking lots. This means that very poor travel conditions are expected to occur right through Thursday and Thursday night. Also, we’re going to have to keep an eye on the potential for downed tree limbs and power lines due to ice accumulation on these objects. Of particular concern will be during late Thursday night and Friday when northwest winds gusting up to 40 mph could put extra strain on trees and power lines leading to a possible enhancement of downed tree limbs and power lines. Areas Near & North Of Route 2: Snow likely will change to sleet by about midnight tonight. Sleet then is expected to change to freezing rain by about 2-3 am or so tonight. Freezing rain mixed with sleet is then expected to continue through the late night hours of tonight right through the Thursday morning commute. Freezing rain mixed with sleet at times looks to continue until about late morning Thursday when this first batch of precipitation will end. At the same time the precipitation is ending, it looks very likely that temperatures will fall from the low 30s around sunrise Thursday morning to near 20 Degrees by mid-morning Thursday. This sudden drop in temperatures is likely to lead to black ice issues on roads, driveways and parking lots starting around late morning and continuing through the afternoon hours of Thursday. In addition, areas of freezing drizzle is likely throughout Thursday afternoon, which will lead to icy conditions. It should be noted that afternoon temperatures will hover around 20 Degrees, which will be sufficiently cold enough for any freezing drizzle to automatically freeze on all objects. A second round of precipitation in the form of freezing rain is expected to occur between about 9-10 pm and about 2 am Thursday night and it looks possible that the freezing rain could be moderate to heavy in intensity at times. All precipitation will come to an end just after 2 am or so Thursday night. It is the ice accumulations from the freezing rain that are of most concern. At this time, it appears that ice amounts late tonight into Thursday morning will average between one tenth (0.10”) and two tenths (0.20”) of an inch. Additional ice amounts Thursday night look to average between one tenth (0.10”) and two tenths (0.20”) of an inch. The accumulation of snow, sleet and freezing rain along with black ice and freezing drizzle is going to produce very slippery conditions on all surfaces, including roads, driveways and parking lots. This means that very poor travel conditions are expected to occur right through Thursday and Thursday night. Also, we’re going to have to keep an eye on the potential for downed tree limbs and power lines due to ice accumulation on these objects. Of particular concern will be during late Thursday night and Friday when northwest winds gusting up to 40 mph could put extra strain on trees and power lines leading to a possible enhancement of downed tree limbs and power lines. Beyond This Storm, it appears that there is a legitimate risk for a winter storm that could actually bring not only accumulating snow, but enough snow to plow on Monday night and Tuesday of next week. This is a storm to definitely keep a very close eye on and I’ll be sure to have many more updates for you as needed.