Blizzard Warning in Place for Snowy Weekend

A blizzard warning has been declared across southeastern Massachusetts, with heavy snow expected over the weekend.

Click here to see what areas are affected.

Thursday night and Friday morning were a Whitman's Sampler of snow. What's to come is the gigantic Hershey Bar.

Is it a blockbuster? No. Is it worthy of cleaning out the bread aisle? No. (But please leave me some english muffins.) Is this a nor'easter? Yes. And that's all you really need to know.

Visions of sideways snow, drifts, snowfall rates of 2" per hour. Check, check, check. Only thing missing is a rush hour commute.

Timeline on this one brings in the snow around 7-9 am along the coast. It'll be light, but the table is being set for heavier snow into the afternoon. The big feature of this (and most large snowfalls in Southern New England) is the presence of a coastal front. This is the dividing line between temperatures near freezing at the coast and in the upper teens in Greater Worcester. It also acts as a focal point for heavy snow, and where it sets up on the South Shore tomorrow will dictate who gets pummeled and who comes away with a few inches.

Right now that sweet spot seems to be in a line from Gloucester to New Bedford. Here's where a good 10-16 inches of snow may fall. Outside of that, a swath of 7-10 and 4-7 inches is expected. (See map.)

Now back to the timeline.

Snow spreads west and north through the morning, then becomes heavy in the early afternoon through the evening along the coast. We'll see snowfall rates of 1-2" hour in that time, with poor visibility and travel. Winds will whip along the immediate coast to 40-50 mph late in the evening as the storm makes its closest pass offshore. Heavy snow tapers to light snow by 9p-10p and exits the coast/Cape from 10p-1a.

Cold air will rush in during the tail end of the storm, so expect the snow to drift in some spots with wind chills in the single digits or zero at times.

Plenty of updates ahead. Stay with us online and on-air.

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