Thursday, January 19, 2012

Snow coming tonight, Saturday

North American Model, 1 pm Saturday- courtesy NCEP

A disturbance passing southeast of New England tonight will coat the region with up to 3 inches of snow.  Similar to the previous light snow events of the last week, the snow will commence between 8 and 10 and will be tapering off by 5 am.  The snow will be mainly light, but there could be a period of moderate snow around midnight.  The snow will stick to the roadways immediately so travel with caution tonight, it will be slick.  Tomorrow will be sunny, albeit  cold with a biting west wind.  This will set the stage for Saturday.

A piece of energy is going to break off of the storm system that impacted the Pacific Northwest yesterday and make its way all the way to the Atlantic coast.  This is not a nor'easter or a classic big winter storm, but the storm will become stronger as it reaches the open waters of the Atlantic, south of New England.  Most areas north of the Mass Pike will see a general 4-8 inches of snow.  South of the pike we should expect 3-6 inches with a chance of sleet mixing in as Saturday progresses.  The snow starts to fly around 11 am and will continue off/on into early Sunday morning.  This system is much trickier to forecast than the first system so further updates will be necessary.  We've seen systems like these explode and drop a foot of snow (December 13, 2007).  I'm NOT saying I expect that, as the data currently doesn't favor that type of snow growth over Southern New England.  What I am saying is that New England weather has a mind of its own.

More later

National Weather Service Issues Winter Storm Warning

T he National Weather Service Boston office has issued a * Winter Storm Warning * for most of Southern New England, except for the South Sou...