The jet stream continues to carry multiple energetic disturbances across the United States in succession. When sufficient cold/warm clash of air exists, and ample moisture is available, these energetic disturbances form into potent storms, as we saw with the combination of Central US blizzard conditions and southeast U.S. tornadoes with the Christmas storm delivering Wednesday night and Thursday wintry weather to the Northeast.
(As always, click images to enlarge) Another of these energetic disturbances is set to dig across the Eastern United States this weekend, and will tap both Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic moisture as it organizes over the Eastern Seaboard. The projected track of this storm is far enough south that even most of Southern New England would see snow, rather than rain, Saturday evening through Saturday night and into Sunday morning. This moisture will likely extend as accumulating snow into Central New England and perhaps Northern New England, to a lesser extent. I'm not too uncertain on a track far enough for mostly snow - what I think it more tentative is the speed at which the storm moves.
The jet stream pattern from Saturday to Monday, overall, will be trending toward a flatter, faster flow. The jet stream will be far enough south for cold air to invade most of the Northern and Central United States, including New England and the Northeast, but the orientation of the Westerlies will be set west to east, favoring rapid progression of storm systems across the country. So...the question becomes, how quickly does this transition to a faster flow evolve - at this point, it looks like the mean flow will be fast enough to keep a Saturday evening to Sunday morning snowstorm moving quickly enough to keep snow totals from becoming remarkable, but in a snow-starved Southern New England, even a six to eight inch event - certainly well within the realm of possibility - would be welcomed by snow lovers.
So...I think there's plenty to watch for Saturday night, and I feel quite confident Southern New England will see snow, the question probably is just how long it lasts, and therefore, just how much falls.
