Cold and Snow

Snow Falling at Cushman Brook, North Amherst
Photo by S. Vardatira

Winter isn't going anywhere for the time being, as we look towards a SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM this upcoming week. Tonight’s temperatures bottom out at zero to 10 above, with bitter cold wind chills at around -5 to -15 late tonight and Sun morning. Another round of wind chill advisories will likely be issued for the higher terrain in Central and Western MA, where -15 to -20 wind chills are expected. Near record cold maxes are possible again Sunday with highs in the mid-20s, except upper teens in the higher terrain.

As for the storm possibility, confidence is increasing for a significant winter storm Tuesday into Tuesday night, and it will continue to be colder than normal for much of next week. Less clear is how, exactly, Tuesday's storm will affect us. As is often the case, storm track - and thus snowfall accumulation – is still a question. The energy associated with this system is still located in the Arctic, so it won't be until later today or even Sunday that computer models start to converge around what is likely to happen. Right now, some models show the system tracking off the southern New England coast, with others bringing it closer to shore. That said, models seem to be moving towards the system tracking closer to land. If that continues to be the case, we could be seeing more snow around here rather than less, easily reaching 6-12 inches with potentially 12-18 inches. But remember we’re still three days out, and the situation can change significantly before Tuesday.

Once the storm passes, we will continue with generally dry conditions and below normal temperatures as high pressure builds over the region. And just in case you're thinking this upcoming storm will be the end of it, another system approaches toward next weekend with the potential for rain/snow. Ah, winter. Seems the groundhog had it right!