Winter Rears Its Snowy & Icy Head This Coming Week Across Western & Central Mass

For Tonight: Cloudy skies are expected tonight across the region as a southwesterly wind flow is in place across the region. Temperatures tonight will be near 40 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 10 to 20 mph. Monday: A cold front is expected to push through the area during the afternoon. This frontal passage will bring with it a couple of isolated rain showers as it moves through during the late afternoon hours. High temperatures will be near 55 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 10 to 20 mph for most of the day, but will shift to the West and Northwest by late afternoon. Tuesday: An area of low pressure is expected to move through Southern New England during Tuesday afternoon. This system will bring with it a round of precipitation during the afternoon and evening. The type of precipitation is something that’ll need to be watched closely as there are signals in the data that suggest some light accumulations of snow could occur, especially north of the Mass Pike. My thinking is that light snow will overspread the entire area by late morning. During the afternoon, it appears that light snow will continue across areas north of the Mass Pike while a rain-snow mix occurs near and south of the Mass Pike. This precipitation looks to continue into the early evening hours before it ends just before midnight Tuesday night. As for snow amounts, it appears that accumulations of one inch or less across areas near and south of the Mass Pike, as well as across the Connecticut River Valley. Across areas of Central Mass that are north of the Mass Pike, it appears that about one inch or so of snow accumulations looks possible. It should be noted that areas near and north of Route 2 could see upwards of 2 inches of snow accumulation. High temperatures Tuesday will be between 35 and 40 Degrees. Winds will be South at 10 to 20 mph. Wednesday: We will be in-between weather systems during Wednesday and it appears that a mixture of sunshine and clouds will occur. High temperatures will be near 40 Degrees. A Impactful Snow & Ice Event Is Possible Beginning Around Midnight Wednesday & Continuing Through All Day Thursday & Into Thursday Evening: A frontal boundary is expected to gradually lift across the Mid-Atlantic States towards southern New England as we get into Thursday. It appears that cold air could be really trapped in near the ground as a high pressure system over Quebec province provides a feed of cold air that pushes southward into our area during Thursday. This is a setup that could be real trouble as precipitation and milder air at the mid-levels of the atmosphere pushes over the cold air near the ground. This could lead to a situation that brings snow to begin with that changes to an extended period of sleet and freezing rain. The big uncertainty to the forecast is where exactly across our area will the transition zone from snow to sleet to freezing rain will set up. At this point, I think we could see snow that begins with across areas near and north of Route 2 late Wednesday night that mixes with sleet at times during the day on Thursday into Thursday evening. Snow amounts near and north of Route 2 could end up around 3 to 6 inches or so. For areas near and north of the Mass Pike, but south of Route 2, it looks like it could be a really messy winter weather set up with snow to begin with late Wednesday night that becomes a mixture of sleet and freezing rain during the day on Thursday. During Thursday night, a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain continues during the evening that ends late at night. Snow and sleet amounts of 2 to 3 inches are possible with ice amounts from the freezing rain of around one tenth of an inch. For areas south of the Mass Pike, this is a setup that is concerning to me in terms of ice accumulations from freezing rain during the day on Thursday. It appears that precipitation will start out as snow late Wednesday night that changes to all freezing rain during Thursday morning. This freezing rain could continue through all of Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening before it ends late Thursday night. Snow amounts of 1 to 2 inches are possible. More importantly though, ice amounts of around one quarter of an inch and maybe a bit more than this is possible across areas south of the Mass Pike from the freezing rain. If you have plans on Thursday, you’re going to have to really keep a close eye on the weather forecast as this storm could really significantly impact travel conditions due to snowy and icy conditions. Thank You: As always, I thank you for your continued support. If it were not for you, I would not be able to do a job that I love so very much – forecasting the weather for Western and Central Mass. Please help us alleviate the costs required for producing these weather forecasts for Western and Central Mass by donating. 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