Two storms and the light before spring

Sun through the winter clouds, Amherst MA
Photo by S. Vardatira, 3/2/2015

Hang on everyone – there is light at the end of this winter’s seemingly endless tunnel of snow interspersed with polar air. This week, we have two more storm systems to get through, but by next week, seasonal “perfect maple sugaring” temperatures will move in, with above freezing days and below freezing nights.

But that’s then, and this is now. Currently, a WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY is in effect for our area, starting at 3 PM today through 10 AM tomorrow (Wednesday). The whole event will start out as snow late this afternoon and continuing through the evening (3-5” when it’s all over), changing to sleet overnight, and finishing up with freezing rain for a few hours around dawn. We could get as much as a tenth of an inch of ice on top of the snow. Temperatures are expected to rise above freezing through the day tomorrow, though with all the snow on the ground, don’t expect much significant melting. And we’ve seen this type of forecast before, where Amherst and other Valley locations never hit the forecasted high. It’s going to be a messy, icy, slow morning slog.

Another winter storm will affect Southern New England particularly along and south of the Mass Pike Wednesday Night into Thursday - which means it shouldn’t be a significant factor in Amherst, though anyone traveling south should take heed. This system could produce advisory to warning level snow south of the Mass Pike and a light snowfall north of the Mass Pike, including around here.

I would like to wrap up by saying that this is absolutely, positively the end of our winter warnings and polar cold, but March is a fickle month around here. Winter, spring – it could go either way. The Great Blizzard of 1888 descended on New England for two days on March 11, the super snowstorm of 1993 affected the entire eastern third of the country starting on March 13 (with blizzard conditions in Amherst), and all the way back in 1660, John Hull and the New England colonists recorded a fierce snowstorm on March 26. That was the year New England colonists first leaned that our wintry weather can last into spring. On the other hand, in 2012 (March 13) an unusual March heatwave set off a line of severe thunderstorms across Western Massachusetts. At this time of year, we just never know which way the wind – and weather – will blow.