Boston

Snow or no? THIS factor can make or break a New England nor'easter

Which way the weekend's storm tracks will likely affect how far inland the snow/rain line goes

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Thursday night: Biting cold wind with clearing sky. Lows around 20, wind chill around 10. Friday: Cold sun. Highs in the 30s. Saturday: Cold clouds, evening flurries, night snow. Highs in the 30s.

As we await this weekend's winter storm, one factor could play a big role in whether the Boston area gets blanketed in fresh snow or a slushy mess: the path the storm takes.

The Benchmark is a latitude-longitude boundary roughly 115 miles south of the Outer Cape that tends to determine the precipitation type of winter storms along the I-95 corridor.

Preparations are underway ahead of this weekend's expected snowstorm.

A Benchmark storm, which travels over 40°N, 70°W, typically brings a blockbuster nor’easter through much of the I-95 corridor. These types of storms have adequate cold air throughout their life cycle to produce big snow.

An outside runner storm tracks east of the 40/70 benchmark. These storms are glancing blows — they generally don’t bring all of New England a widespread heavy snow. Instead, most of the powder sticks along the immediate coastline, with little snow, if any, inland.

People in New England are getting ready for a snowy weekend.

Inside runners that travel north and west of the demarcation take in warmer air. These storms are trickier because there’s usually a rain/snow line that sets up across southern New England. You then have to take into account how far inland the ocean temperature’s influence typically is.

This produces a tighter snowfall gradient where values along the coast are lower, and a short distance away from the coast can bring much heavier snow, thus higher totals.

A graphic showing how a western storm track would bring rain into the Boston area instead of snow with this weekend's storm.

Sunday’s storm is, so far, looking to be an inside runner, with a rain-snow mix across I-93, and further to the south coast. It’s not out of the possibility that Boston’s snow is mixed with rain too.

The snow, sludge, and salt can be tough on your shoes in the winter. Luckily, Leslie Bateman, co-founder of Coblrshop, has a few tips to keep your kicks in good shape.n

More on the looming storm

Here are the latest snow maps for the Greater Boston area and the rest of New England

Weekend storm could bring up to 12 inches of snow in parts of New England

How much snow are we getting Sunday? What to expect from this weekend's storm

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