Snow continues expanding across New England this morning and will continue falling heavily at times, particularly during the middle to late morning hours. Though not an epic storm, this snow strikes during the last weekend before the Christmas holiday, and has made roads and highways slick across nearly the entirety of New England. Though a shot of added holiday pay for plow operators and snow removal crews, the rest of us lose some crucial hours of holiday preparation time…but add a bit of quintessential New England winter ambiance to all six states. In fact, though a rain/snow line will continue pushing northwest off of Cape Cod and the shoreline as warmer ocean air slowly moves inland on an increasing east and southeast wind, the cold that’s been so well established the last few days will mean most of us crank out a general three to six inches of snow before changing to rain toward the end of the event. Of course, lesser amounts will be found in Southeastern Massachusetts. Speaking of the end – timing does work out well to regain some control over our afternoon and evenings for shopping and holiday parties: most of Southern New England will have changed to rain by noon, and for those who don’t, farthest north in the Route 2 corridor and Merrimack Valley points northward into Vermont and New Hampshire, the storm ends by early afternoon, anyway. In Maine, a slightly later departure still will mean snow (and a finish as coastal rain along Route 1) wraps up by late day. This gives road crews a chance to make considerable progress later Saturday, particularly in Southern New England where temperatures will rise above freezing.
Overnight Saturday night, some fog will fill in but we expect a general lull in the action. All the while, milder air moves in on an increasing southerly and southwesterly wind, and by Sunday, this will mean some strangely mild air for Southern and Eastern New England, with high temperatures in the 50s! There’s only so much warming we can do with a fresh snowpack, but the abundant moisture in the air combined with melting snow will create areas of thick fog Sunday, mixed with a period of rain marching through the area as a cold front nears from the west. The passing cold front will bring enough cold air for Northern New England to switch back to snow showers later Sunday, and for all of us to be aware of developing black ice Sunday evening and night.
Monday we foresee a shot of cold air that will moderate by midweek next week, accompanied by a chance of mid to late week rain and snow showers…but the early call in our exclusive NECN Early Warning Weather 10-day forecast shows a fair Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with high temperatures both days around 40 degrees. We’ll keep an eye on it, of course!
Stay warm and safe today!
Matt, Michael and the Early Warning Weather Team
