Very Cold And Snowy Stretch Follows Blizzard Of 2015
BOSTON (CBS) - After sputtering around for several weeks, our winter engines have started up and we are off and running. Mother Nature has her "pedal to the metal" and it looks like we are headed full speed ahead into a prolonged stretch of bitter cold and snow.
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Consider this - just 4 days ago, Boston had a little more than 5 inches of snow for the season, lagging a foot and a half BELOW the average.
Now just about 100 hours later, Boston's season snow total is up to 35.3 inches. more than a foot ABOVE average!
Read: Blizzard of 2015 Coverage
This is what makes seasonal snowfall forecasting so difficult. One or two storms being a hit or miss can have HUGE ramifications on the season total. Boston got about two-thirds of its season total in Tuesday's blizzard. If that had been a miss or anything less than the historic storm it was, it would have a giant effect on the eventual record books.
Speaking of record books, the Blizzard sure lived up to the hype. A few notable achievements include:
Official Blizzard: It has received the stamp of approval from the National Weather Service. In fact, blizzard criteria was met for a whopping 9 straight hours in Boston, from 1 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Blizzard conditions were achieved in many towns including: Marshfield, Hyannis, Nantucket, Chatham, Worcester and Beverly.
Biggest Snowstorm in January in Boston: The 24.6 inches that fell in the city Tuesday was easily enough to beat out the prior number one storm of January 22-23, 2005 when Boston received 22.5 inches.
Sixth biggest snowstorm in Boston's recorded history (120+ years): This includes any month. We were just 0.3 of an inch shy of the February 8-9, 2013 blizzard, and cracking the top 5.
Here is the current top 6:
27.5 inches Feb 17-18, 2003 - The President's Day Storm
27.1 inches Feb 6-7, 1978 - The "Infamous" Blizzard of '78
26.3 inches Feb 24-27, 1969 - The "100 Hour storm"
25.4 inches Mar 31-Apr 1, 1997 - The "April Fool's Day Storm"
24.9 inches Feb 8-9 2013 - The Blizzard of 2013, also known as "Nemo"
24.6 inches Jan 26-27, 2015 - The Blizzard of 2015
The biggest snowstorm in Worcester's recorded history (110 years):
Here is that list:
34.5 inches Jan 26-27, 2015
33.0 inches Mar 31-Apr 1, 1997
32.1 inches Dec 11-12, 1992
28.7 inches Feb 8-9, 2013
24.8 inches Feb 14-16, 1962
Had enough blizzard talk? Ready for that January thaw? Not happening this year.
This appears to be just the beginning of a very cold and snowy stretch for at least the next few weeks.
BITTER COLD TONIGHT
With the fresh snow pack, clearing skies and very little wind, conditions will be ideal for radiational cooling Wednesday night. Temperatures will drop into the single digits and even slightly below zero in many suburbs.
FRIDAY SNOW PART 1
Some light snow arrives Thursday night around midnight and continues through midday Friday. Temperatures will rise near the coastline and over southeastern Massachusetts likely making for a snow-rain mix. Precipitation amounts will be fairly light. Best chance for snow accumulation will be to the north and west of Boston, about 1-to-3 inches in that area. A coating to an inch closer to Boston and to the south before the mixing occurs.
FRIDAY SNOW PART 2
The storm from early Friday gets a shot of adrenaline when it hits the Atlantic and the Gulf of Maine. It appears that a final band of snow may rotate from north to south Friday night between midnight and midday Saturday.
The best chance of snow accumulation with this feature will be in extreme eastern Mass., perhaps a bulls eye in Essex County, southeast NH and coastal Maine. There could be another 1-to-3 inches across all of eastern Mass. (east of Worcester County) early Saturday morning with higher amounts possible along with New Hampshire and Maine Coast.
SATURDAY ARTIC BLAST
As the Saturday morning storm departs the region it will draw down some bitterly cold air from Canada. High temperatures on Saturday will struggle to get out of the teens and the winds will be howling out of the north, gusts 20-to-40 mph. Wind chills on Saturday will be well below zero. Yuck.
SUPER BOWL STORM
While you are all crowded around your TV's watching the Patriots play in the Super Bowl Sunday, you may notice some light snow falling out the window.
It is a bit too early to speculate on this potential storm, however there appears to be potential for a significant storm late Sunday night into Monday.
This one would have a lot more moisture to work with than Friday's storm and could come in the form of snow or rain (track dependent).
Not sure which one would be worse, heavy rain would likely cause more issues than snow with the huge snowpack we currently have.
Again, much more to come on this in the next few days, but it's something to be aware of as you plan your post Super Bowl celebrations and trek to work on Monday.
Follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ