Very Icy Conditions Are Expected Throughout Much Of Christmas Day Across Parts Of Western & Central Mass: Unfortunately, travel could be a real mess during Christmas Day due to freezing rain and the potential for icy roads, especially in the Worcester Hills. An area of low pressure is expected to move near the south coast of New England during the day on Christmas. Temperatures tonight are expected to reach lows of around 25 Degrees. At the same time this is happening, precipitation in the form of freezing rain is expected to overspread Western Mass by about 4 am or so. That freezing rain is then expected to start across Central Mass by about 5 am or so Christmas Morning. It appears that the combination of the well below freezing temperatures and the freezing rain will likely lead to some potentially very icy conditions throughout Christmas morning. The concern I have is that it’s possible that the cold air near the surface is going to be really difficult to erode leading to a potentially prolonged freezing rain event across some areas of Western and Central Mass that lasts well into the afternoon hours. The areas I am most concerned about this occur are the Worcester Hills and especially the northern Worcester Hills, as well as across the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass. Eventually, all areas of Western and Central Mass should change to all rain by late afternoon with the rain coming to an end during the evening. My forecast ice accumulation map for Christmas Day is attached to this post. I want to emphasize to you that you need to be extremely careful if you are traveling on Christmas Day. There is nothing worse than ice and things look like they will be very nasty during Christmas Day in terms of icing.
Finally, Meg and I would like to once again wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We hope that you and your family have an enjoyable Christmas.