Maps show accumulating snow, possibly record-breaking cold in the Boston weather forecast this weekend
We've got yet another cold and snowy weekend on tap in Boston, the forecast maps show. The WBZ Weather Team has issued a NEXT Weather Alert for Saturday and Sunday, and is raising the snowfall numbers in some areas of Massachusetts.
The National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories for central and eastern Mass., and a winter storm watch for Essex County.
Saturday snowstorm
This is not your classic storm that moves from west to east and drops a fairly uniform amount of snow.
Instead, our snow on Saturday is being generated by something called an "inverted trough." This is essentially an extended area of "convergence" protruding hundreds of miles north-northwest of a low-pressure system.
Where the trough sets up, you get winds converging, which creates lift in the atmosphere and heavier snowfall in highly localized areas.
The trick with this snowfall forecast is trying to figure out where these highly localized snow bands will be.
We feel the most likely areas are in central Massachusetts (initially) and then, over coastal Mass., particularly in Essex County, the North Shore, and Cape Ann.
Saturday snow timeline
Snowfall is continuing for eastern Massachusetts throughout Saturday. It began early morning before dawn. Luckily it will begin to taper off for most of the area after sunset.
Later in the evening, light snow is still expected in areas around the Cape and the Islands. Flurries will persist overnight across far southeastern Massachusetts.
How much snow?
The snowfall forecast map is a bit complex. We are attempting to find and highlight those areas where heavier snow bands are likely.
We are forecasting 3-5" in most of Worcester County and along the immediate coastline. Areas in between, including a good portion of Middlesex County and Norfolk County, should see lower amounts, closer to 1-3".
We have highlighted an area from the New Hampshire coastline down through Cape Ann and the North Shore as a potential jackpot zone with up to 5-10" of accumulation.
Wind and cold to follow
The National Weather Service has issued extreme cold warnings from Worcester County through western Mass. for the chance of wind chills as low as -30 degrees.
Across eastern Mass., cold weather advisories are in place for wind chills as low as -20 degrees.
This is for the time period from 6 p.m. Saturday through midday Sunday.
Northwest winds will gust between 20-40 mph across southern New England Saturday night into Sunday.
The wind chills will bottom out Sunday morning, it will be absolutely brutal outside.
High temperatures on Sunday will only reach the teens across southern New England, close to record low maximums for the date.
Super Bowl weather forecast
One final thought: As you settle in on the couch on Sunday to watch our beloved New England Patriots, you can dream of warmer climates, like California.
The difference in air temperatures between Boston and Santa Clara on Sunday afternoon, just about 50 degrees. It will be 65 degrees in Santa Clara compared to 16 in Boston.
Factor in the wind chill and we are talking about a 70-degree swing.