By James Arnold, Weather Specialist
Region – Tomorrow should bring us partly cloudy skies with seasonable temperatures, in the mid to high 30s. Clouds will be on the increase late in the day as the next system rapidly approaches. After dark the clouds will thicken and lower and snow will move in around or just after midnight, and it could fall at a moderate to heavy rate for a time during the early morning. By mid to late Christmas morning the snow should be all over and skies will clear yielding a brilliant day with new fallen snow and bright sunshine. The wind will pick up from the northwest ushering in some pretty cold air in the wake of the storm. I still think our general area will see between 4 to 8 inches of snow, but there will be less along the coast as rain will mix in cutting down on their accumulations. It is possible that the Cape and Islands will see little or no snow at all.
This is not the end of the story. Though most of the rest of the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day will be relatively tranquil, below normal cold air will be our lot until about Thursday with daytime highs around 30° and nighttime low temperatures around 10°. In addition, Christmas night and Tuesday will be fairly windy from the northwest, adding low wind chill values to the mix. There are some increasing signals that a storm will be ejected from the southeastern coastal area out over the Atlantic which could strengthen and move up the coast with southern New England in its sights, potentially bringing a major snowstorm to our area. This system is not on the map yet…it has not formed and likely will not form for several more days…and sampling data is non existent, but pattern recognition says this potential needs to be monitored carefully. As we get closer to this event I will update the situation. And following this storm, some of the coldest air of the season, well below seasonal values, looks to be coming to New England on strong northwest winds and it will stay with us for a pretty long time.
James M. Arnold is a retired Weather Specialist who has worked with Shrewsbury Emergency Management Agency; town of Princeton; Worcester Emergency Communications and Emergency Management Agency; Southborough Emergency Management Agency; town of Grafton and Wachusett Mountain Ski Area
