More Accumulating Snow Coming Thursday
BOSTON (CBS) - We are in the midst of an absolutely historic stretch of winter weather.
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Snowfall records seem as though they are being shattered on a daily basis. In Boston's 120-plus years of record keeping we have NEVER seen a snowier 7-10 day period. Quite honestly, we are running out of places to put the snow and many folks are running out of patience as well. Even the most rabid snow lover out there couldn't possibly want to hear about more snow in the forecast. . right?
Today there is good news and bad news.
The good news: It does not appear as though we will have any MAJOR snowstorms for the rest of the week.
Unfortunately, the remainder of this blog will be devoted to the bad news. More accumulating snow is on the way in the next 48 hours.
First, a very weak storm will pass by New England Wednesday morning. This will likely bring a few light snow flurries and snow showers to southern New England, but leave no more than a coating (or some frosting) on the current enormous snow piles. Best chance of seeing some flakes on Wednesday- between 5 a.m. and 1 p.m.
We get a brief break Wednesday evening before our next system rolls in. This one is a little tricky, consisting of two distinct pieces. First, an Arctic front will be approaching from the Midwest late Wednesday night and Thursday morning. This feature alone would not be a big deal. It will drop a few inches of snow, perhaps up to 3 or 4 inches in parts of central Mass. and draw in yet another blast of Arctic air behind it for Friday.
However, there is more to the story. A second piece of energy straight from the Gulf of Mexico will accelerate northward on Thursday, riding up the East Coast. The tricky part of this forecast is trying to determine how these two features will interact with each other when they meet up just off our coastline. It now appears as though they will combine forces and form a significant storm, but we are likely to just catch the beginning phases of this formation. The brunt of this storm will be felt well beyond our latitude, up in Eastern Canada.
So what will we get on Thursday? Here is how I see it…
Midnight through 7 a.m. Thursday:
Some light snow arrives from west to east associated with the Arctic cold front. Only a coating to an inch by 7AM, a bit more in Central and Western MA.
7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday:
The Arctic front passes overhead, light to at times moderate snow continues. The majority of the snow accumulation will occur north and west of Boston, between 2-4". In the city and nearby southern suburbs, just a coating to an inch by 1 p.m.
1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday:
This is the timeframe when we need to closely monitor the joining of the two systems off our coast. Moderate snow, with some pockets of heavy snow are likely in eastern Massachusetts in this time period. Up to 2-4" is possible east of I-495.
The heaviest snow is likely to occur along the Maine Coast and over extreme southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod. 4-6" may accumulate in those areas. The winds will also become very gusty out of the north, 25-45 mph in eastern Massachusetts.
After 7 p.m. Thursday:
The storm will quickly move to the east and the snow will abruptly shut off. Winds will relax a bit and very cold Arctic air will flow into New England. Temperatures will drop below zero Thursday night and only get back into the teens on Friday.
Sadly, the snow story does not end here. Some more light snow/flurries is likely during Saturday, no significant accumulation expected. And then there is a good chance of another winter storm Sunday night and Monday. Too early for specifics on this one, but once again the potential exists for a sizeable snow accumulation.
Hang in there New England, just a little more than 2 weeks before pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training…Some warm Florida sun sure sounds good right now.
Follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ
