Wednesday Snow Will Be Similar To Sunday Storm
BOSTON (CBS) - So much for an early spring. I guess Punxsutawney Phil should have slept in that morning!
We are in the middle, or hopefully nearing the end, of a snow blitz pattern similar to one we had two years ago in December and January.
Check: Interactive Radar | Current Conditions | Weather Blogs
It has certainly been an incredible February. Sunday's 1.8 inches in Boston put us at the fifth snowiest February on record.
In fact, Boston has had more snow in the last three weeks than we had in the prior two years!
So with March arriving later this week the big question of the day is - Are we finally going to see some spring-like weather?
That answer is easy. No.
Not only do we have more snow on the way in less than 48 hours, but temperatures following our next snow event are going to be near or below normal for the foreseeable future.
Check out the Climate Prediction Center's 8-14 day outlook. It doesn't take an expert to see there is a lot of blue (cold) over the eastern half of the country. Not exactly the best time to have a vacation planned to Florida!
So perhaps you can find some peace in the fact that it isn't just us. In fact, most of the nation is still in the grips of winter.
Over the next few days more than half of the 50 states will see more accumulating snowfall, including a whopping 6-to-12 inches or more in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. The good news is this snow is going to go a long ways in denting the three-year long drought in parts of the Midwest.
So what is on tap for New England?
Here we go again.
TIMELINE
Snow will arrive just before dawn (between 4 and 6 a.m.) for all of southern New England on Wednesday.
It will quickly transition to rain along the South Coast and over Cape Cod (sound familiar yet?).
Much like this weekend's storm, areas north and west of Boston will hold on to the cold air the longest and therefore, once again, get the greatest amount of snow. The rain-snow line will edge northward all morning Wednesday, likely reaching Boston by late morning and perhaps getting as far north as I-495 up near Lawrence and Lowell by midday.
This will be yet another very borderline storm in terms of temperatures. A little bit of elevation and distance from the coastline will mean several more inches of heavy, wet snow. Yes, more cement-like snow from this one, no more powder.
The rain-snow will taper off Wednesday evening and night, without much of a backlash unlike what we had on Sunday night when everyone went back to heavy, wet snow.
AMOUNTS
There could be a quick coating to an inch of slush in southeastern Massachusetts before the change to rain, and anything that did fall will be melted and washed away.
In Boston and the suburbs north and west to I-495, 1-to-3 inches are likely, again very heavy and wet, compacting and melting on impact, tough to get big accumulations even with a good deal of precipitation.
The areas that got the jackpot this weekend will once again be in the zone on Wednesday - northern Worcester County, southern New Hampshire and most of central and northern New England (ski country) will see at least 3-to-6 inches and in many cases, with some elevation, there could be upwards of 8 or 9 inches.
No doubt we will be skiing well into March this year, a big change from the last several winters when the snow pretty much shut off early in the season.
Finally, looking ahead, a complex weather setup will take shape later this week with something called a "cutoff" low, a common spring-time occurrence.
At this point, it does not look like it will setup in a position that would dump a whole lot of snow in New England, but it will serve to keep temperatures on the chilly side well into March.
So keep the shovels handy and the boots by the door, no early spring this year.
You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.
