A strong cold front will pass through the region today bringing with it rain south and snow north. As Low pressure develops and intensifies along the front over the Gulf of Maine, it’ll enhance the precipitation, especially across northern New England. We’ll see mostly rain showers across southern New England through the mid-afternoon, but as colder air starts to intrude into the region, the higher elevations of Worcester County into the Berkshires will see a transition to snow.
Much of northern New England will see snow developing during the morning and continue through the afternoon. Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories have been issued for portions Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine through Saturday. Take it slowly if traveling across these areas. Highs Friday reach the mid to upper 40s south, then drop off into the 30s to low 40s by the end of the day behind the front. Highs north will be mostly in the 30s.
During the evening, we’ll see a transition from rain to snow across the south, even into the Boston area as precipitation slowly winds down during the overnight hours. Please take it slowly where this rain/snow transition takes place. Roads may become slick where temperatures drop below freezing during the evening and overnight hours. Snow will continue overnight across northern areas and wind down during the day Saturday. We’ll also see a gusty northwest wind develop overnight which will usher in much colder air which will stick around right though the weekend. Lows south in the upper 20s to low 30s, 20s across the north country.
As far as snow is expected, our First Alert inhouse model is forecasting a coating or so over northwestern Conn., northern Mass., and into southern New Hampshire, and an inch or two across the Berkshires into southern Vermont. The jackpot will be in the mountains from Vermont to Maine where upwards of 8” or more will fall! That’s certainly some great news for ski areas which have been craving some natural snow to help kick off their season!
Wind, cold temperatures, and mountain snow showers will be the main story for Saturday with highs barely reaching 40 south, 30s north. Add the gusty northwest wind and it will feel more like freezing south and the 20s south.
Sunday will feature less wind with cooler than average temperatures. A few flurries possible during the morning ahead of a system which will be diving out of the Great Lakes Sunday night and intensify off the coast early Monday morning. Here’s where it gets tricky! Does it develop close enough to the coast and bring a period of accumulating snow to southern New England or does it harmlessly track away from the area without much fanfare? Right now it looks to bring a period of snow showers to the area with a light accumulation, but I’m not ready to let it off the hook quite yet! There is a tremendous amount of upper level energy associated with it and wouldn’t surprise me to see this.
Stay tuned and keep checking back as new information comes our way!