Christmas Weekend Forecast: Rain Or Snow
BOSTON (CBS) - It's payback time for Mother Nature.
After weeks of quiet weather and relatively easy forecasting for meteorologists, our pattern has suddenly become very active, just in time for the holidays.
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Over the next 5 days (through Christmas Day) there are now four distinct chances of rain and/or snow.
The good news is that none of these events looks all that significant. In other words, no Nor'easters or traffic nightmares are expected.
But we will have several bouts of precipitation to contend with if you are driving, flying or doing some last-minute shopping over the next few days.
Here is the breakdown:
Wednesday Rain:
Midday showers followed by steadier and heavier rain for the evening commute. It will taper off later this evening and skies will clear after midnight. Temperatures will stay above freezing, so no icy problems are expected.
Thursday Night/Friday Morning Rain/Snow:
Rain begins around midnight and changes over to snow from north to south. All precipitation tapers off by mid-morning. Some light snow accumulation is likely, especially north and west of Boston where a dusting to an inch or two is possible, mainly on the grass. Closer to the city, snow may mix in and perhaps even coat the ground in a few spots, but no significant accumulation is likely.
Friday Night/Saturday:
While most of the region will remain dry, some light ocean effect snow showers or flurries are possible. In addition, a weak disturbance will also come through at upper levels of the atmosphere and that may also spawn a few snow showers and flurries as well. An additional coating in isolated spots is possible.
Sunday:
Weather models have been all over the place with a coastal storm for Christmas Day. As of this morning, they have trended eastward with the track, far enough east that the storm would either be a near miss or just fringe our area with a bit of light snow. There is still room for the track to shift back westward and give us a more significant storm. Either way this would not be a blockbuster and would move through relatively quickly Sunday evening/night.
You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.
Watch Melissa Mack's forecast:
