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A Christmas Whitening

The weather will be cooperative for last-minute shoppers and travelers today and tomorrow.

Expect sunshine yielding to a mix of patchy clouds this afternoon as temperatures max out from the middle 30s in the Worcester hills to the upper 30s around Boston to the lower 40s closer to Plymouth County and out over Cape Cod. The wind will be brisk and continue to chill the air but it will not be quite as gusty as yesterday and it will diminish this evening.

Temperatures will drop to the 20s tonight then rise a bit higher to the upper 30s to lower 40s tomorrow as sunshine prevails although some wispy cloudiness will appear in the afternoon with a much lighter breeze.

After midnight tomorrow night, I am happy to say that some light snow should break out from west to east across the region. The snow will taper off later in the morning and end before noon on Christmas Day.

Presently, I am expecting a coating some areas south of the MA Pike ranging up to near 2" closer to Route 2 with over 2 and up to 3 or 4 inches across much of northern New England.

The wind will be rather light out of the northeast to north. There could be some breaks in the clouds Christmas afternoon with highs in the middle 30s. After some sunshine part of Wednesday, clouds will take over again as the next storm approaches.

This one will tap the Gulf of Mexico so it will be loaded with moisture. Atmospheric dynamics should supercharge this system and make another round of strong winds late Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Sufficient warming means it will be a rain maker for southern New England although a mix cannot be ruled out over interior locations northwest of Boston at the beginning.

The northern mountains will capture plentiful heavy snow for the skiers and boarders. The primary storm will run up from the Ohio Valley toward western PA/NY as a secondary storm develops over Delmarva. This center will track toward Cape Cod then move out over the Gulf of Maine. As colder air circulates around the system into eastern sections of the region, there could be a flip to periods of snow or snow showers Thursday afternoon along with strong, gusty winds. It will remain very blustery next Friday.

Looking ahead, the active weather pattern will persist and we'll be monitoring the next storm to emerge from the lower Mississippi Valley. Like its predecessor, it will tap a rich moisture supply over the Gulf of Mexico resulting in another big precipitation event next Saturday night and Sunday. It is too premature to be confident about specifics with this system so it will be interesting how it zigs and zags in the days ahead. Perhaps this one will bring heavier snow closer to Boston. We shall see.

Joe Joyce delivers his latest WBZ AccuWeather Forecast later today and I shall return tomorrow morning for the vacationing Melissa Mack.

Have a great day!

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