A January Delight...
After a light coating of snow early this morning, sunshine is breaking through the clouds. A warm front triggered the early morning light snow and it will continue to lift north. SW winds will follow in for the rest of the day. After a cold start, temperatures will be climbing into the 30's and Lwr 40's this afternoon with partly sunny skies across SNE. Meanwhile, across the North...clouds will remain for most of the day...with breaks of sun in SNH.
A weak cold front will push through tonight with a period of clouds, a flurry or two in the hills and a wind shift to the north. Building high pressure from Canada behind the front will provide chilly breezy northerly winds Monday morning which will diminish by midday as the high crest over the region. Plenty of sunshine with a few lingering coastal clouds Monday morning with highs cooler in the Lwr 30's, but south of Boston temperatures will try to climb up to 35 degrees.
Once this high pulls away, winds will begin to shift to the balmy SW wind direction and the race is on for our January thaw!
An upper level ridge will be in place on the east coast which will help to provide sun-filled skies and temperatures running about 10-15 degrees above normal. Tuesday will climb into the mid 40's, with Wednesday well into the 40's and Lwr 50's!
A bit of an amendment to the forecast is for cooler temps around Thursday & Friday. A trough will push into New England Wednesday night. A backdoor cold front will push through and usher in cooler brisk northerly winds which will temporarily return temperatures to more seasonal temps. Building high pressure will make for plenty of sunshine Thursday into Friday. High temps will cool into the Lwr 40's.
Warmer air will be moving back at us for the weekend with temps climbing back to near 50 or above. A few hit or miss showers will be possible Saturday into Sunday along with a frontal passage.
Mild air should be able to hold through the 14th...but by the 15th, I expect a change in the pattern as cold arctic air will begin to charge in from Canada. Once like the warmth...once the cold returns...it is heavy and the cold pattern will likely last for the rest of the month and into at least the first part of February.
With a mild & wet December and a mild 1st half to January.. this winter has gone almost the opposite to what we were thinking when we were issuing our winter forecast is November. We knew it would be a little up and down with rain and snow...but once again, like last year...the warmth was underpredicted. All I can say at this point, is there is cold left in the pattern. There is the potential for blocking thanks to stratospheric warming. This winter still has legs...but not nearly the bite we though it would...at least yet.
