Winter's Return...
Windows down, rowers on the Charles and golfers on the links...incredible Spring-like weather took grip of the Northeast today. Boston had a high of 50 degrees making it the 13th time we achieved that feat this Winter! Hard to believe that we will be trading in the golf clubs for cross-country skis tomorrow...but we will!
This storm is still rather ragged and by the time it gets consolidated and better formed it will be too far out to sea to produce a big snow event here. The offshore track will keep the heaviest of the precip out over the water and most of the Gulf of Mexico moisture will stay even farther offshore with the partial double barrel structure. The other obstacle to overcome is today's warmth. While most of the ground is still frozen, the pavement was able to absorb some of the heat...this will limit the impact on the roads on the front side of the storm. We will also have to overcome mild boundary layer temps, at least through late morning until the North wind gets stronger from the developing cyclone and draws down some of that arctic air. Regardless of these limiting factors, midday tomorrow, the surface cold will have arrived, the pavement cooled and the heaviest of the snow falling from maximum lift to give us a good environment for snow accumulation...the problem is it won't last long. In the end, very little has changed from our snowfall forecast last night...1-3" of fluffy snow for Boston and towns east and north with coatings in SW NH and Western MA...3-6" south and east of Boston of a heavier snow highest amounts should be in Plymouth County very close to the Canal. The Mid and Lower Cape are wild cards, there is potential for 6-8" but I think the warmth currently present will be tough to overcome keeping amounts in a sloppy, slushy 2-4" range. Flurries linger into the evening but then we clear out overnight Saturday as winds back to the NW and frigid air invades Southern New England for 36 hours.
While it will be snowy and roads will get snow-covered, I think this will be a very low impact storm and I wouldn't cancel any plans over this one. Have a great weekend.
