Another week, another storm. Just days after heavy, wet snow plastered much of Southern New England a new storm is set to bring heavy snow for many on Monday.
The center of our Monday storm will pass well southeast of New England, but it’s very large. That means even though we’re on the edge (again), we’ll still set to pick up several inches of snow.
Sunday afternoon, a blizzard warning was issued for much of southeastern Massachusetts.
Gov. Charlie Baker announced that state offices in nine counties, including Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk, would be closed. State police, meanwhile, announced that extra storm patrols would be staffed, with more than 350 troopers on duty during the day and around 225 in the evening.
Snow emergencies were declared in several Massachusetts communities, including Gloucester, Peabody, Salem, Medford, New Bedford, Brockton and Somerville.
TIMING
Precipitation will arrive on the South Coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as Cape Cod and the Islands between 4 and 7 a.m. Some rain may briefly mix in for a few spots, but that won’t last long. Things will soon go over to snow.
Snow will continue to spread northward during the morning, reaching the Worcester and Boston areas between about 7 and 9 a.m. North of Boston, the snow will begin during the mid and late morning. The snow will move into parts of Northern New England closer to lunch time.
Periods of snow will continue all day Monday, with the heaviest focused in Eastern and Southeastern Massachusetts. Outside of Eastern Massachusetts the snow will generally fall at a light to moderate clip.
Many schools in the region, including Boston, announced closures Sunday evening.
Unlike our Friday storm, which ended abruptly with a sharp clearing line, this one will linger. Light snow showers will still be around Monday night, and even Tuesday morning.
AMOUNTS
As of early Monday morning we’re expecting the lightest snowfall amounts in far Western and Northern New England.
Local
A dusting-2” is likely from Western Connecticut, into Western Massachusetts and Western Vermont. Far Northern Vermont, Northern New Hampshire, and Northern Maine will be included in that too.
In the Connecticut River Valley, from Hartford north to Springfield and the Upper Valley, expect more like 2-4”. That’s what we expect around much of Central New Hampshire and Central Maine as well.
From Worcester into Metro-West, parts of Rhode Island, as well as the Merrimack Valley, Southern New Hampshire, and Coastal Maine, 4-8” is anticipated.
Much of the Boston area is slated to see around 6-8”, with 8” likely in much Southeastern Massachusetts. A few towns there will even see locally higher amounts, on the order of a foot, because of ocean effect snow. Chilly wind blowing in from the warmer ocean water can often enhance the snowfall totals in this area.
WINDS AND COASTAL CONCERNS
Northeast winds will ramp up Sunday night, and continue to be gusty in Eastern Massachusetts on Monday. Gusts 45-65 MPH are likely.
Combine that with high astronomical tides on Monday and widespread minor coastal flooding is likely along the Massachusetts coast south of Boston. Pockets of moderate coastal flooding will be likely from Scituate and Marshfield, down towards Sandwich and Nantucket.
While our mild weekend has melted much of the snow on the trees and power lines, some of those trees and lines are weakened after the stress. The wind may down some of them, resulting in renewed outages.
NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY AND BEYOND
As mentioned above, the storm takes a while to exit.
Snow showers or periods of light snow will still linger into Tuesday, including in New Hampshire. While some minor additional accumulation is possible, it doesn’t look to have a major impact on voting as of now.
Snow showers will also continue off and on Wednesday and Thursday in New England, as a series of other disturbances ripple by just offshore.
