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Bitter Cold Through Saturday, Then Snow Storm Possibility Looms For Next Week

BOSTON (CBS) – Why do we live here?

I have heard this phrase uttered and read it more than a few times in the last 24 hours on social media. It comes up a few times each winter when people look inward and start questioning their New England existence. Some blame their parents for not "getting them out sooner." Others blame their kids for "being too happy here" and not wanting to move.

I gotta admit, I have been guilty of this myself on occasion. In the depths of winter, we can easily forget how good we have it here in summer and fall. I believe my lowest winter moment came back in February of 2015. While in the midst of a record amount of snowfall, I, like many of you, spent a good deal of my free time chipping away at the iceberg that was once my roof. I distinctly remember saying to my wife something along the lines of, "That's it…we are moving to San Diego, I don't care how boring the weather is!" (of course, it was a bit more colorful than that, but not suitable for this blog).

But alas, no matter how brutal and endless winter sometimes seems here, it makes spring that much sweeter when it finally does arrive just after Memorial Day.

As of late, we really haven't had it that bad. Blame global warming or just a mild pattern, but the last two winters have had just a handful of truly unbearable weather days. Thursday night was the first time Boston has dipped into the single digits in two years! And sure, we will spend this entire weekend below 32 degrees, but by Sunday it will already feel more palatable outdoors with the wind subsiding and the core of the cold moving away.

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(WBZ-TV Graphic)

So, hunker down and hibernate for the next 24 hours and it will be like THIS, never even happened:

Saturday morning: Lows in the single digits, wind chills -5 to -20

Saturday daytime: high temps 15-25, wind chills 0 to 10 degrees

Saturday night/Sunday morning: Lows 5-15, winds much less, wind chills -5 to 5

Sunday: Very little wind, high temps in the 20s

If you have been skimming through this blog looking for information on next week's snowstorm, you can stop here. Are you ready for a "one-two punch of winter"? Just kidding I wouldn't go there.

Just as the cold starts to ease, our attention will turn to a storm system emerging off the mid-Atlantic coastline late in the weekend. Let me start with the obligatory, it is still a ways off, and a lot can happen to change this forecast in the coming days… yadda, yadda.

This one has been on our "radar" for several days now and there has actually been a great deal of consistency in the models this week (which sometimes scares me). The energy for the storm will be coming ashore in southern California Friday and then will make its way across the country this weekend and somewhere off our coastline on Monday.

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(WBZ-TV Graphic)

The timeframe to watch appears to be late Monday afternoon and evening through Tuesday. There is potential for a significant amount of snow with this system, track dependent as always. At this point, several options are still on the table.

-A classic track over 40N 70W with a foot or more snow in a large portion of our area.

-A track a bit farther south, meaning higher snow amounts in southeastern Massachusetts and lesser amounts to the north and west.

-A track so far south, that we are just grazed (much like we were earlier this week) with a much smaller amount of snow. I would rate this scenario as a long shot, somewhere between 10 and 20%.

snowmap (1)
(WBZ-TV Graphic)

So, enough uncertainty to warrant, the "stay tuned to updated forecasts" this weekend for sure. With a classic track, this would be a true nor'easter featuring significant coastal winds and the potential for some coastal flooding (tides are moderately high astronomically next week). Beach erosion would also become a concern due to the long duration of the battering waves.

My gut feeling, it's gonna happen. The first week of February is ripe for this type of storm and is typically the most active and snowy time of the entire winter for us. The devil is in the details and those will come over the next few days.

One last thing, chalk this up in the "little something for everyone section." As I said, the signal has been strong for this nor'easter, but the models have been equally as dialed in with regards to a quick warmup at the end of next week and perhaps some rain by next weekend! Bitter cold, to nor'easter to warm and rainy? That sounds about right. Wouldn't want to live anywhere else -right?

Follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ

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