Wednesday Storm: Mainly Wet In Southern New England, Snow In North
BOSTON (CBS) - Ahhhh, wasn't it nice? 50 degrees this past weekend, the snow seems to be vanishing before our very eyes, sunsets now inching towards 7 p.m.
Could it be? Have we finally made it through? Is the snow and cold behind us? The spring buds are trying to poke through, the sap has started flowing, and I bet you even saw a few bugs in the house this weekend!
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And then you woke up this morning and it was snowing and the ground is white again. And it's Monday and it is still dark in the morning with the time change and the meteorologist on the TV is saying something about another storm coming this week and you are reminded that you live in New England and it is never THAT easy.
Mother Nature is about to serve up a classic taste of March in New England this week, complete with all the fixings - rain, snow, warmth and cold, all in the next few days.
Just look at a forecast summary and tell me this doesn't sound like your classic weather disaster movie plot: Snow Monday morning; 50's Tuesday; rain Wednesday changing to snow at night; 20's Thursday - that should be enough to confuse every flower, bug and furry creature from Boston to Worcester.
So let's get right to the lead story, what you are likely skimming through this blog looking for - what's the deal with this midweek storm, how much snow and how miserable will it make my life.
This looks like a classic, late winter season storm. There will be major precipitation type and temperature issues, and most of the snow that falls will occur where you would expect it to be in mid-March.
The farther north and west you live and the higher your elevation, the better chance you have of seeing a significant snow event Wednesday and early Thursday.
TIMELINE
Light rain or snow showers will start during Wednesday morning. The precipitation will become steadier and heavier by midday and afternoon and likely be all rain for southern New England.
There may be some mixing in elevated locations like the Berkshires and Monadnock region. By Wednesday night, colder temperatures will seep southward and the rain will mix with and begin to change over to snow slowly, from north to south.
By the time this changeover happens in southern New England, most of the precipitation will be over.
However there will likely be some light snow during the morning on Thursday, with the best chance of accumulations north and west of Boston, especially in northern Worcester County, southern New Hampshire and points northward.
The snow will taper off during Thursday afternoon leaving behind a blast of wind and cold through early Friday.
HOW MUCH SNOW?
Around Boston, including the nearby suburbs to Route 128 and all points south: just a coating to an inch during Thursday morning. No big deal here.
North of the Massachusetts Turnpike, around I-495 in Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill and down Route 2 towards Fitchburg: 1-to-3 inches are possible, mainly very late Wednesday night and during Thursday morning. This may cause some slowdown for the morning commute on Thursday, but, at this point, we do not foresee any major issues here.
Worcester Hills, southwest New Hampshire, western Massachusetts and up into central and northern New England: 3-to-6 inches in areas closest by (northern Worcester Hills), 6-to-12 inches farther north into ski areas. This will be a terrific late season snow refresher for them.
As always, I urge that you stay tuned for updates to this blog and on WBZ-TV and WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
The main energy for this storm is coming ashore right now in the northwestern United States. Now that it is over land, we will get a better sampling of the storm and weather models should be able to hone in on a solution. I would expect that confidence in this forecast will rise significantly in the next 24 hours.
Winter is not over yet, but we may have it on the ropes.
Follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ
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