Massachusetts

Temperatures Start Upward Trend

Record cold this morning across the New England. Temperatures dropped below zero in most areas, with the exception being the Cape and the Islands.

There were places that dropped below -20 degrees including Springfield, Massachusetts, Bennington, Rutland, Burlington and St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Worcester, Massachusetts set a record low temperature of -9 degrees, and Boston tied the record of -2 degrees, which was set back in 1896.

Don’t worry, we will not see a repeat of this Monday morning. Overnight, temperatures will climb out of the teens and into the 20s.

Temperatures will continue to climb on Monday. Highs will climb above freezing for the first time since Christmas.

I’m sure many of us are excited about a thaw, but there are a couple of things we need to be mindful of: pipes bursting, water main breaks, ice dams, and flooding.

The flooding piece is still up in the air. Most areas are blanketed by a foot (or more) of snow. If you were to melt that snow, it would yield nearly an inch and a half of water.

Late this week, temperatures may take a run at 50 degrees. Between the gusty southwest winds and warm weather, a lot of snow will melt. With the warm up will come the rain. Forecast models are showing up to three inches of rain. Urban flooding is likely to occur if we see that much rain.

Ice jams are another concern. Jams are very unpredictable, but they can cause serious flooding.

If you read the operational forecast models at face value, they show the warm weather sticking around through the weekend. Is that possible? Yes. However, the upper atmosphere yields a pattern, which could favor another snowy coastal storm. At this point, either possibility has an equal chance of occurring.

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