The Changing Months
November 2012 is ending tonight and will go into the record books as a colder than average and much drier than average November. This is in sharp contrast to last November's record warmth and near average precipitation. Five out of the last 6 days of November 2011 had high temperatures in the 60s! One year ago today, it maxed out at 64 in Boston. Just amazing! That was just the beginning of several unusually mild months. That's not the case this year so be prepared for a colder to perhaps much colder than average winter overall. That was revealed in my Winter Outlook blog last weekend. There will be a few bursts of mild weather such as what is on the menu for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday but some blasts of arctic air later in December and January will make the winter pretty chilly especially compared to last winter.
Cold air drained into the region from Canada today as temperatures failed to reach 30 across most of northern New England. Meantime, much of the nation is much warmer than average and that balmy air is headed back to the region later this weekend. A frontal boundary divides the two air masses resulting in a strip of clouds releasing patches of snow and rain. Some of the snow showers will migrate into the region later tonight and some light snow should be in the air from time to time and place to place tomorrow. In some areas, the ground could be whitened with perhaps up to a half inch to inch in favorable spots. As milder air is advected in from the ocean, the flakes will flip to sprinkles along the coast in the afternoon and evening. Temperatures will gradually rise into the 30s during the day and probably reach or surpass 40 tomorrow night as a warm frontal boundary transits through. Following the passage, a south to southwesterly breeze will steer the balmy air into New England. Therefore, expect highs in the 55-60 range Sunday afternoon as some sunshine breaks through the clouds. After that, a cold front will push a band of rain showers across the area Sunday night with sunshine and slightly cooler weather on Monday.
Looking ahead, as another storm system tracks into the Great Lakes later Monday and Tuesday, the southwesterly wind will strengthen and the warmth will return on Tuesday with highs near or slightly over 60. The record high for December 4th is 70 degrees set in 1982. The next cold front will trigger a string of showers late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and colder air will rush in Wednesday afternoon with falling temperatures. A ridge of high pressure will provide sunny weather Thursday and much of Friday before another frontal boundary sets off some showers a week from tomorrow. Presently, there are no big storms in sight.
For the high school Superbowl Games tomorrow, there will be some spotty snow showers with temperatures slowly rising through the 30s with light winds. You can check out the WBZ AccuWeather Mobile Weather Lab at the six games at Gillette Stadium.
Joe Joyce delivers his latest WBZ AccuWeather Forecast in the morning and I shall return later in the day.
Have a happy and safe weekend.
