REGION – Though they’ve emphasized that the outlook may change, forecasters say a storm this weekend could bring up to a foot of snow to the region.
The nor’easter is expected to arrive on Friday night, with the brunt of the storm then hitting on Saturday.
It could drop between eight and 12 inches of snow on area communities, according to a graphic shared by the National Weather Service’s Boston office on Wednesday afternoon and updated on Thursday morning.
“Heavy snow, strong winds, and coastal flooding are all possible,” the NWS’ Weather Prediction Center noted in their own statement on Wednesday.
The NWS issued a winter storm watch for parts of Massachusetts and all of Rhode Island on Wednesday afternoon. By 4 a.m. on Thursday, they had expanded that watch to include all of Middlesex and Worcester counties.
They’ve projected peak wind gusts from the storm clocking in at between 35 and 40 miles per hour.
The Weather Prediction Center, which generates additional visualizations, said the region had between a 70 and 90% chance of getting at least 4 inches of snow as of Thursday morning.
“Strong winds are likely which could lead to blowing snow, scattered power outages and some damage,” the Prediction Center wrote around 5 a.m.
Forecasters note that their projections will evolve as this storm nears.
Experts are specifically eying the track of the storm, which they note could increase or decrease local snow totals.
