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A Brightening Weekend

DEC_2014_CALENDARThere has been precipitation in the region on ten of the first 11 days of this month of December! For Boston, the amount has already surpassed the average for the entire month by more than an inch! This dreary weather has lasted long enough so now we are officially on "sunshine watch"! As the "wheel of misfortune" slowly rolls eastward over the next few days, drier air will become entrained into the circulation. This means that some patches of blue sky and sunshine could appear at any moment! It will be great to see but don't expect it to last for hours. Underneath this pool of cold air aloft, any sunshine will quickly yield cloud formation so it is rather self-defeating. Nevertheless, the threat of precipitation is now waning after the passage of a spoke of energy in the wheel which created the spell of snow which coated the landscape with up to a half-inch to 1-2"on mainly the grass, trees and bushes. I cannot rule out a passing flurry or sprinkle at any time but the support is lacking. 2013_RPM_12KM

As the upper level low pressure system shifts offshore, a spoke of energy could rotate around its western flank and increase the risk of some rain and snow showers on Saturday afternoon and evening from north to south. After that, more substantial drying should create a sunnier Sunday featuring a northwesterly breeze up to 10-20 mph and high temperatures of 40-45. Great weather for the game. GO PATS!

2013_PATRIOTS_GAMEDAY2Monday and Tuesday will be nice days with temperatures about 5-6 degrees above the average for the dates. Sunshine will be plentiful until some cloudiness increases Tuesday afternoon.

 

dec11AIRFLOWOver the past 24-36 hours, the West Coast has been pounded by a vicious storm which released copious amounts of rain resulting in flooding and mudslides. The damaging winds gusted to hurricane force especially on the higher mountains. White Mountain, CA in the Sierra Nevada Mountains had a peak gust to 139 mph! This storm will weaken as it pushes farther inland in the next couple of days. It will traverse the country and be positioned in the Midwest by late Monday. This system will likely produce a period of rain showers perhaps mixing with snow farther north and west of Boston late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

 

Eurochristmas

Despite the big warmup over western Canada this week, looking ahead, the changing configuration of the upper air steering currents may lead to capturing some very cold air surging southward from the Arctic Circle into eastern Canada late next week. It may be introduced by a spell of snow, snow showers or snowsqualls later Thursday. Presently, it is still speculative but it seems plausible that high temperatures could be back to the upper 20s to lower 30s next weekend leading into Christmas week.

In the past few days, many people have asked me if we will have a white Christmas.

GFSchristmasThere are some signals that the polar jetstream will be sinking southward setting the stage for cold weather and a couple of potential storms to form during Christmas week. It is too premature to be specific on any timing and what areas of the nation will be impacted.

 

Are your skis and snowboards ready? Many of the northern and western mountains received new snow ranging from 8 to 24" of snow this week. Take advantage and hit the slopes. There will be some snow showers up there with highs averaging in the upper 20s on Saturday with some breaks of sunshine and lower 30s on Sunday.

On WBZ News, you can watch weathercasts presented by Danielle Niles through 9 o'clock this morning and at noon. I shall return to deliver forecasts to you later today on the 5, 6, and 11pm newscasts on WBZ and the the 10pm newscast on myTV38.

Have a happy and safe weekend.

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