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WBZ-TV Weather Alert: Several Inches Of Snow Saturday

BOSTON (CBS) - The WBZ-TV Weather Team is issuing a Storm Watch Weather Alert for several inches of snowfall Saturday morning.

That means we're not done yet, after a week in which we saw several inches of snow and the coldest temperature in Boston in decades, the weather hits just keep on coming.

Another widespread, plowable snowfall is coming to start off the weekend, and it will likely be Boston's most significant snowfall so far this season.

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(WBZ-TV graphic)

This storm is already making headlines. Winter storm watches, warnings and advisories literally stretch across the entire country - from the mountains of California, through the Upper Midwest, through the Great Lakes and finally into the Northeast.  Plowable snowfall will fall in a number of major cities including Denver, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Albany and Boston.

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(WBZ-TV graphic)

So what can we expect? Let's break it down, inch-by-inch.

FIRST FLAKES

They start to fly after 2 a.m. Saturday. For the first few hours, the snow will be light and scattered, taking some time to get organized and fight through the very dry air in place over southern New England.

ACCUMULATION STARTS

This happens after 5 a.m. The snow becomes steadier and heavier between 5 and 7 a.m. For the first several hours of this storm the temperatures will be very cold, meaning the first few inches will be very light and fluffy.

THE STORM PEAKS

This is between 7 a.m. and noon. This is when the heaviest snowfall will occur and the majority of the accumulation will happen. However, during this time period, temperatures will be steadily warming and the snow will begin to change to rain from south to north.

TIMING THE CHANGE TO RAIN

8 a.m: South Coast, Cape Cod and Islands
10 a.m: South Shore, creeping up the coast into the Boston area

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(WBZ-TV graphic)

Noon: All areas south of the Massachusetts Turnpike and likely most of eastern Mass., inside of I-495.
2 p.m: Up to the MA/NH border, few exceptions in higher elevated areas

RAIN AND SNOW END

It's over by mid-to-late afternoon. Certainly by sunset the storm will be long gone.

HOW MUCH?

We are forecasting a widespread 3-to-6 inches with this event. This includes Boston and all points north and west, and the immediate southwestern suburbs as well.

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(WBZ-TV graphic)

Counties in the 3-to-6 inch range: Worcester, Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk.

A bit less, about 1-to-3 inches are expected along the immediate South Shore, South Coast, Cape Cod and the Islands due to an earlier mixing with rain.

Could there be more? Perhaps a few inches more, especially in the Berkshires or elevated areas like southwest New Hampshire or northern Worcester County. However, most areas will finish between 3-to-6 inches with this event.

By the way, this will be Boston's first snowstorm this season with an inch or more of snow. The biggest storm to date was this past Monday, Boston received 0.9 inch.

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(WBZ-TV graphic)

Wondering if it will all be washed away?

I doubt it. If you fall in the 3-to-6 inch area, unfortunately you are going to have to do some shoveling and plowing. The change to rain comes late in the game and doesn't last very long. The good news is that temperatures will continue to rise Saturday evening! No flash freeze, and in fact highs temperatures on Sunday will be in the 50's with more rainfall likely.

While this is a fairly high confidence forecast, as always we would urge that you stay with WBZ-TV and CBSBoston.com for updates.

Follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ

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