More Than A Foot Of Snow For Some, A Dusting For Others
BOSTON (CBS) --- Location is everything…If you happen to reside about 5-10 miles south of Boston, you are looking at a winter wonderland with between 10-15" of new snow. On the flip side, just 5-10 miles north of Boston and you can clean your driveway with a broom, only a dusting to a few inches.
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So what happened?
Essentially a heavy band of snow setup just to the south of Boston last night and didn't budge…dropping moderate to heavy snow hour after hour in towns like Hanover and South Weymouth and Plymouth. While at the same time, the storm's northern fringes was much weaker than expected, unable to overcome significant dry air. The storm also was split into two pieces…the first piece just wasn't strong enough to push the accumulating snow to the north and west and the second piece is basically only affecting extreme southeastern Massachusetts.
We cannot put this storm to bed just yet…For most, yes, what you see is what you get…you can begin the cleanup (if there is any)…but down in far southeastern Massachusetts and over Cape Cod, there are still several hours of snow to go. In fact, there will likely be an additional 3-6" on parts of the Cape, with the snow continuing through this afternoon.
This has been a very strange winter up until now. Snow has been very tough to come by in Central and Northern New England. It has been so cold that a lot of the snow storms have been pushed farther south than normal…rather than rain/snow lines near Boston and heavy snows to the north, we have had a couple Arctic-like Nor'easters in Southern New England.
Our storms to this point have also featured significant banding producing higher than forecast jackpot areas…in the early January Nor'easter a locally heavy band dropped up to two feet in parts of Essex County, and this go around more banding has resulted in totals on the South Shore over 15".
So where do we go from here?
One thing is for sure, the cold air isn't going anywhere. For at least the next few weeks we will be locked in a very cold air mass. There will likely be several more "Clipper-type" storms, quick movers flying out of Canada, rapidly deepening when they hit the mild Atlantic Ocean and "clipping" us with some heavy snows as they pass by.
So, think warm thoughts, perhaps the winter will end a bit milder than it started…guess we will have to wait for that furry groundhog to fill us in.
You can follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ
