What to Know
- The entire six state region is in a winter storm watch for Saturday night and Sunday.
- Greater Boston is forecast to receive 6 to 9 inches of snow, while some areas to the north could see up to 2 feet.
- A sudden drop in temperatures could lead to icing late Sunday into Monday.
Two weak disturbances, one north of New England, and another south of New England, are generating spotty light snow this morning.
A few spots will get a dusting, to perhaps an inch in some of the hills of Western New England. But for most of us we'll get just a few flurries. Friday will be a bit warmer than Thursday with a high temperature back above freezing in much of central and southern New England, highs near 30 north, and 40 south.
It will be clear and cold tonight. Low temperature will be subzero in the far north and 15 to 20 degrees along south coast.
There is a wind chill advisory for Northern Maine tonight.
The entire six state region is in a winter storm watch for Saturday night and Sunday. We also have a coastal flood watch for Sunday morning high tide.
A winter storm watch means six or more inches of snow and or ice is possible. Flooding is expected to be minor to moderate at the coast.
U.S. & World
High-pressure overhead Saturday means a few hours of sunshine before the clouds come in late. But it is a cold day with a high temperature in the single numbers and teens north, to the 20s south. The ground is very cold as snow arrives after sunset, meaning snow accumulates right away.
Low pressure tracking across Tennessee will move to the ocean Sunday morning. Low pressure then tracks very close to Cape Cod Sunday. Or, it may actually be waves of low pressure, meaning pulses of intermittently heavy snow may last all day. If it snows for 15 to 20 hours, averaging close to an inch an hour, where it is all snow, we end up with 15 to 20 inches.
However, warmer air is going to work in up in the sky, changing snow to sleet and rain in southern New England. That sleet and rain will fall into a sub freezing layer, resulting in a widespread ice storm for inland southern and central New England. In some cases the ice will be in the form of sleet which means it bounces and does not glaze on trees. But south of that zone it will fall as rain and then freeze on contact, this could be the worst part of the entire storm very close to Boston, Providence, and Hartford, Connecticut.
Even on Cape Cod, the temperature may fall before the rain ends and we end up with icing all the way to Nantucket. That’s a rather rare event but it may happen this Sunday.
In addition wind is going to be gusting 30 to 50 miles an hour, from the southeast early in the day, then from the northwest. So anywhere where the temperature does get into the 30s or 40s, there will be a flash freeze during the afternoon and evening.
Sunday night the story changes to wind and chill. Temperatures are going to fall to the single numbers above zero in southern New England, and below zero in northern New England. But the wind will still be gusting 30 to 40 mph or stronger for much of the day Monday. There may be some snow in the air on Monday but overall it looks like a mostly dry day with breaks of sunshine. The high temperature though will only be zero to +10 degrees south, and zero to -10 degrees north.
The wind and chill eases a bit Tuesday, with slightly warmer air coming in Wednesday along with a mixture of snow sleet and freezing rain once again. It looks like a series of wintry storms will be here for the middle and second half of next week, also. Winter is recharging in New England full throttle until further notice.
