PLEASE NOTE: All weather posts are my thoughts and opinions only. These are not official forecasts, as I am not a trained meteorologist. Check local media outlets or the National Weather Service for official weather forecasts for your local area. Weather posts are focused on Southeastern New England.
Meteorological winter begins this Sunday, and with the beginning of winter comes our first chance of measurable, and possibly significant, snowfall in Southeastern New England.
A large storm system currently located in the Rocky Mountains will move east across the country towards the upper midwest over the next few days.
By Sunday, the storm will be located in the Great Lakes. Strong high pressure north of the storm will continue to push cold air south from Canada into New England, laying the foundation for some frozen precipitation to occur.
As the storm runs into the blocking high pressure in Canada, it will transfer its energy to a second area of low pressure off the mid-Atlantic coast and strengthen to the south of New England. The storm will then slowly move east-northeast along the Southern New England coast.
The forecasted storm track is not favorable for a significant amount of snow in Southeastern New England – we do best when storms track just to the southeast of Nantucket. Ocean temperatures are still mild, and the location of the storm will allow for warmer air to push in from the southeast, changing any snow into sleet and rain, before changing back to snow. A lot could still change within the next 48 hours, as movement of this storm in either direction can make a big difference in snowfall amounts over a large portion of the area. In addition, the storm reforming south of New England will also cause it to slow down, and it will not be moving northeast our of the area until Tuesday afternoon.
My “First call” snowfall map:
The best chances for significant snow will be north and west of a line stretching from approximately New Haven, CT, through Providence, RI, an up to Plymouth, MA. For areas seeing significant snow, some will fall Sunday night into Monday, followed by a lull where snow may change over to a mix of sleet, rain, and freezing rain. As the storm moves east, cold air will be drawn back in from Canada, and most areas will turn back over to snow through Tuesday morning.
Winter Storm Watches have been posted by the National Weather Service for most of Massachusetts and Connecticut in areas that will most likely be all snow.
We will post again closer to the onset of the storm. Stay tuned!
Ted August 