Slow-Moving Snowstorm Set to Impact Sunday Afternoon Travel
Snow may accumulate at 1 to 2 inches an hour for a couple of hours at the onset
By Tim Kelley ••
Today: Mostly sunny, brisk breeze, high in the 30s. Tonight: Mostly Clear, low in teens and 20s. Sunday: Sunny start snow and mix afternoon, high in the 30s.
Click here for what to know about Sunday's big snowstorm.
The storm that’s been making headlines since it came on the West Coast four days ago, is only halfway across the nation so far. It’s a slow mover due to the fact the traffic jam has developed in the atmosphere, because the storm that hit New England on Wednesday stalled over Newfoundland.
This evening we have winter weather advisories and warnings in effect from the West Coast all the way to the East Coast- including New England for later tomorrow through early Tuesday. The fact that the storm is moving so slowly means we are going to be under its grip for 24 to 36 hours - a long-duration Nor'easter.
We have a clear sky with a bright crescent moon tonight, and the wind is finally decreasing. By morning we are near calm with temperatures close to 20° at the south coast, and near 0° at the Canadian border. That cold start sets the stage for a significant winter storm arriving from southwest to northeast late morning through evening tomorrow.
Clouds will fill the sky during the morning, the first snowflakes arrive in western Connecticut by lunchtime, it will evolve into a wall of snow moving along interstate 90 from Springfield arriving in Boston by 4 PM if not sooner. High temperature mostly in the 30s in southern New England, 20s north.
Today: Mostly sunny, brisk breeze, high in the 30s. Tonight: Mostly Clear, low in teens and 20s. Sunday: Sunny start snow and mix afternoon, high in the 30s.
But near the south coast we may warm to 40° where snow should only last for an hour or two before changing over to rain from Connecticut to Cape Cod. The sky may remain mostly sunny in Maine where temperatures may top out only near 20° for The Crown of Maine.
Snow may accumulate at 1 to 2 inches an hour for a couple of hours at the onset, before weakening a bit and changing over to sleet and rain during the evening along and south of the Massachusetts Turnpike. Even though we may have rain falling near Hartford, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island, the temperature may stay below freezing, setting the stage for a freezing rain event. It’s hard to say whether it’s going to be freezing rain or sleet, but it’s unlikely we stay all snow from Boston to Hartford.
Even from Pittsfield to Worcester Massachusetts we may be in the mix zone. And that rain-snow line will be fluctuating north and south as the storm slowly evolves south of Nantucket Island and stalls out.
The precipitation will keep coming in fits and starts all night Sunday night, all day Monday, most of Monday night, and eastern Maine snow and mix may still be going Tuesday morning.
Caltrans via AP
Cars and trucks are seen stopped traffic on Interstate 5 near Dunsmuir, California, in this photo taken Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019, provided by Caltrans. A "bomb cyclone," which triggers a rapid drop in air pressure, brought snow to the mountains and wind and rain along the California and Oregon coasts. Drivers on Interstate 5 near the Oregon-California border spent 17 hours or more in stopped traffic as blizzard conditions whirled outside. Some slept in their vehicles.
Jeffrey McWhorter/AP
Matt Younger, right, a pastor at Northway Church, embraces facilities associate Robert Lusk in their church's severely damaged sanctuary on Oct. 20, 2019, after a tornado tore through North Dallas. The twister knocked out power for tens of thousands of customers and destroyed buildings in North Texas, including the front of Floors Masters building that collapsed.
Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images
A man walks through the flooded feeder roads off of highway 69 North on Sept. 19, 2019, in Houston, Texas. Imelda dumped over 40 inches of rain in southeast Texas over the week.
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department via AP
A family is rescued via fan boat by a member of the Texas Parks & Wildlife department from the flood waters of Tropical Depression Imelda near Beaumont, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019.
Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images
Cars pull to the side of the freeway of highway 69 North to get by the flood waters on Sept. 19, 2019, in Houston, Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott has declared much of Southeast Texas disaster areas after heavy rain and flooding from the remnants of Tropical Depression Imelda dumped more than two feet of water across some areas.
Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images
A man tries to direct a school bus on the Imelda-flooded Hopper Road on Sept. 19, 2019, in Houston, Texas.
David J. Phillip/AP
Angel Marshman wades through floodwaters from Tropical Depression Imelda after trying to start his flooded car, Sept. 18, 2019, in Galveston, Texas.
Martin Meissner/AP
Nanook the polar bear dives into the water during an extreme hot summer day at the zoo in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, July 24, 2019. A second heat wave moving through Europe has cities in France, the United Kingdom, Germany and more bracing for soaring temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Geilenkirchen recorded its all-time record high at 104.9 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday, with even higher temperatures predicted for Thursday.
Getty Images
Lifeguard Luke Orot of Anchorage watches over beachgoers at Jewel Lake on July 4, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska is bracing for record warm temperatures and dry conditions in parts of the state.
Lance King/Getty Images
A welcome sign at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport shows 86 degrees weather at 3:07 pm on July 4, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska is bracing for record warm temperatures and dry conditions in parts of the state.
Ulises Ruiz/AFP/Getty Images
A policeman stands next to vehicles buried in hail in the eastern area of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, on June 30, 2019. - The accumulation of hail in the streets of Guadalajara buried vehicles and damaged homes.
Charlie Riedel/AP
Cleanup continues at a destroyed home, May 30, 2019, after a tornado tore through the countryside near Linwood, Kansas. The National Weather Service say they received 934 tornado reports for 2019 alone, up from the annual average of 743.
John Minchillo/AP
Storm damaged homes remain on May 28, 2019, after tornadoes passed through Indiana and Ohio on Memorial Day evening in Brookville, Ohio.
Savannah Weingart/Tornado Adventures
A tornado rips through McCook, Nebraska, on May 17, 2019. A string of severe weather swept Midwest states from Nebraska to Texas, bringing along floods, hailstorms and tornadoes across the region.
Salvatore Allegra/AP
Mount Etna spews lava during an eruption on May 30, 2019. Sicily's Mount Etna has roared back into spectacular volcanic action from Thursday morning, sending up plumes of ash and spewing lava.
Saviano Abreu/United Nation OCHA via AP
Mozambique's Macomia district is badly damaged, with some houses totally collapsed, in the aftermath of Cyclone Kenneth on April 27, 2019. Approximately 160,000 people in Mozambique were at risk from Cyclone Kenneth, which swept the area six weeks after Cyclone Idai killed 600 people in central Mozambique.
Caroline Haga/IFRC via AP
Floodwater drench the port city of Beira, Mozambique, on March 18, 2019. The Red Cross says that as much as 90 percent of Mozambique's central port city of Beira has been damaged or destroyed by Cyclone Idai. Mozambique's President, Filipe Nyusi, say more than 1,000 people may be dead.
Nebraska Sen. Sasse and Gov. Ricketts
Photos shared by Nebraska Sen. Sasse and Gov. Ricketts show the devastation being left by severe flooding, which includes massive ice chunks.
AP
Canada geese battle choppy water as a late winter storm packing hurricane-force winds and snow sweeps on March 13, 2019, in Denver. A bomb cyclone slammed into the Midwest on Wednesday, cutting power lines, grounding flights and stranding motorists on the road.
Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire
A severe storm made its way over Santa Barbara, California, on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. Santa Barbara County Fire's Mike Eliason caught some of the lightning strikes over Santa Barbara as numerous thunderstorms made their way through the region.
John LocherAP
Snow accumulates on a median along the Las Vegas Strip at the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, Feb. 21, 2019, in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is getting a rare taste of real winter weather, with significant snowfall across the metro area in the first event of its kind since record keeping started back in 1937.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
People play in the snow in Las Vegas, Feb. 21, 2019, during a rare winter snowstorm. The rare event dumped up to eight inches of snow in some parts of the city.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
A view of the roof of a home that was swept down a hill by a mudslide during a rain storm on Feb. 14, 2019, in Sausalito, California. Fifty homes in the town of Sausalito were evacuated after a mudslide struck homes and sent at least one sliding 75 yards down a hill.
Lance Endo via AP
Snow gathers at the Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area in Maui, Hawaii, Feb. 10, 2019. A strong storm that hit Hawaii knocked out power, brought down tree branches, flooded coastal roads — and even brought snow. Snow is not unheard of in mountainous parts of the tropical island chain, but officials say the coating at 6,200 feet at a state park on Maui could mark the lowest-elevation snowfall ever recorded in the state.
Brent Edwards via AP
Snow dusts black volcanic cinders at the Polipoli State Recreation area on the slopes of Haleakala near Kula on Maui, Hawaii, Feb. 11, 2019. A strong storm hitting Hawaii has knocked out power, brought down tree branches, flooded coastal roads — and even brought snow.
Kiichiro Sato/AP
Commuters wait for a train as snow falls on Jan. 28, 2019, in Chicago. "Possibly life threatening" wind chills could dip to negative 55 degrees in northern Illinois throughout the week - low temperatures not seen in the last quarter century. Cities in the northeast are seeing temperatures dip from a mid-week blast of cold Arctic air moving south. Some southern states like Mississippi and Alabama are even expected to see snow.
Courtesy Inge Groot
Extreme temperatures froze parts of the Niagara Falls at the Canada-U.S. border, as seen in this photo taken on Jan. 22, 2019.
With snowfall rates varying, we could average out about 1/2 inch per hour - that comes out to 12 to 18 inches in the higher elevations where it is all snow in Central New England. South of that a few to several inches, but wet with ice on top will make it more difficult to deal with than where it is all snow. So do not focus on the 'jackpot' amounts - we are all in for significant disruption in travel plans through Tuesday morning. The exception to the disruption is along the Canadian border and in northern Maine where the most snow has already come down so far this season.
In central and northern Maine, we had a top 10 snowiest November. Now, we’re going to start off December snowy in southern and central New England. The sun comes back on Tuesday afternoon, but there will be a couple of more fronts we have to watch later in the period and some potentially very cold air, as seen in our First Alert 10-Day Forecast.
