The cold is already here with wind chill temps running close to zero at blog time and now a storm takes aim on New England later today. This storm will have plenty of arctic air to work with so no issues of rain/snow lines. The storm will also have ample moisture as it passes south of New England late tonight/Wednesday. Long story short…cold, wind & snow.
Here are some thoughts on the event:
* Patchy light snow/flurries arriving 1-4pm with steadiest snow from 7pm tonight until 10am Wednesday. Poor travel is expected from 7pm until noon on Wednesday due to falling/drifting snow.
* Heaviest amounts focused on South Shore/Buzzards Bay/Cape/Islands with a foot of snow likely in those areas. Metro Boston plan on 8″ of snow. Our *special* map in the maps section details the snowfall potential.
* Snow will be light & fluffy which eliminates threat of widespread power loss BUT the powdery snow means significant blowing/drifting snow leading to poor visibility.
* Wind gust between 35-50 mph likely along coast with gusts between 20-35 mph well inland. This wind will create wind chills between -10 and -20 overnight & early Wednesday morning.
* Thankfully, coastal flooding is not expected to be an issue due to lower astronomical high tides as well as a northerly wind direction (a NE or E wind traps water along the coastline. That happened during the January 3rd event.)
The storm pulls away from New England during the day on Wednesday but the arctic air will remain firmly entrenched. In fact, our bitterly cold & stormy pattern is expected to lock in for several days. We have a chance at some snow showers on Saturday and perhaps another coastal storm early next week.