After snow ends, coldest stretch of winter coming to Massachusetts
BOSTON - The WBZ-TV Weather Team is continuing the NEXT Weather Alert for the remainder of Tuesday as the snow continues to fall in some areas of Massachusetts and changes to a mix/rain in others.
The National Weather Service has also continued the Winter Weather Advisory through 7 p.m. for most of the area. This is not just for the snow impact but also some sleet and freezing rain that will be mixing in near the coastline.
The rain/mix/snow line will be making progress northward through Tuesday afternoon, changing the snow over to a mix in Boston and the nearby suburbs to the north and west. It will be mainly rain over southeastern Mass. and the Cape for the remainder of the storm.
The storm will begin to taper off later in the afternoon with just some lighter snow leftover to the northwest. The final flakes will fall between 5 and 7 p.m. with gradual clearing skies thereafter.
How much snow in Massachusetts Tuesday?
Here is how much snow we expect for the remainder of the storm.
Just a few inches between Route 128 and 495. The flakes will be getting bigger and wetter as well as milder air moves in. The highest amounts will be located north and west of 495 where the precipitation will stay all snow for the rest of the day.
Driving conditions will be slippery for the evening commute, even in areas near the coastline where the snow changed to rain. This is because temperatures will be dropping after dark, causing a refreeze on any untreated surfaces.
Coldest stretch of the year coming to Boston area
After Tuesday's mess, things quiet down for a few days. The main weather story will turn to the cold. While we won't experience anything like what the folks in the Upper Midwest did over the weekend, it will be our coldest stretch of the year through early next week.
Many towns will stay below freezing for several consecutive days.
When is the next storm in Massachusetts?
The only chance of additional storminess or snow comes on Friday.
This system has been trending farther and farther south however, so at this point odds favor either a miss or just some light snow from the northern fringes of the storm system.
After that, expect a cold and blustery weekend. There are indications of a warmup coming next week along with a bit of a pattern change.