Joe Joyce WBZ-TV Meteorologist
We all know this is going to be a major storm. The track has trended towards the west where this storm will likely hug the coast as it bombs out providing Blizzard conditions from Delaware/MD to Philly, Trenton, Long Island and eventually into New England. Some of these area will be seeing 16-20 inches of snow. This will be a crippling storm for the I-95 corridor…luckily many should be off the road…except the thousands who will be flocking to Lincoln Financial Field to watch the Eagles take on the Vikings in Blizzard conditions. Should be fun!
Here in New England…we will have to watch for snow to quickly push into southern New England quickly by afternoon. I am expecting 2-5″ to be on the ground by sunset with snowfall and wind quickly becoming heavy into the evening. The more westward track has this storm bombing just south of Long Island than shifting east where it will track between Cape Cod and Nantucket early Monday morning.
The snow/rain line will be a bit of an issue with this storm. There is a warm air wrapping into this storm from the south that will try to push all the way up into southeastern MA. How far north the snow/rain line goes is still in question…but it appears to make it all the way up to Scituate…with the coastal front perhaps backing just inland from Cape Ann during the evening hours. This warm air coming in off the water could allow for a wet mix for a time and should keep accumulations down at some of the immediate beaches…especially south shore to the Cape. As the storm pulls away Monday morning we will see the snow rain line collapse towards the coast.
As we have been talking about the heaviest snow will occur on the colder side of this coastal front as Warm moist air will be overriding the cold air in place. This boundary appears to be setting up from Worcester County, to Metro West, Middlesex, Essex, and Rockingham counties for jackpot snowfalls. The closer to the coast..a heavy wet back breaking snow will fall…farther inland a colder fluffier snow which will add up significantly. Moisture profiles are showing 1-2″ of liquid…so where there is mostly snow there will be several places who receive 18-24″ snow …especially outside, North and west of Boston. NNE winds at the surface should play a key role in helping to keep Boston mainly as snow…but it is going to be close. Snow ratio of 8-1 for Boston with 15-1 ratios farther inland.
The strongest winds will likely come tomorrow night, shortly after sunset. It is going to be shocking how hard and fast the snow comes in tomorrow out of the Northeast. Winds will be gusting to 60 mph at the coast. Blowing and drifting snow as snow falls at 2-4″ an hour will make this quite a sight. As the low approaches Cape Cod by Dawn, winds will be dying down as the eye of the low moves over. So my morning live shot at Scituate…may not be as extreme in regards to the wind. The early morning high tide at 3:40 will be raging with seas 20-25 feet off of Stellwagen Bank. I think tomorrow night is going to be the most extreme part of the storm…very dangerous to be on the roads. Snow will linger through Monday morning…and end by afternoon…but the blowing snow will continue to limit visibilities so the Blizzard warning is in place until 5 PM Monday.
CBS Boston Weather
