A Veritable Potpourri

Again today, it's all about location. Depending on where you are or where you might be traveling to, there is a variety of precipitation types out there thanks to changing temperatures in various levels of the atmosphere. The transition lines will be advancing north-northwestward as the afternoon progresses. The rain over Cape Cod and the South Shore will progress into the immediate Boston area early this afternoon then slowly proceed into the nearby suburbs and up along the coast to Gloucester and Rockport. Farther and farther north and west of Boston, cold air is going to hang tough at lower levels with a layer of warm air flowing over the top. The result is snow switching to sleet early this afternoon and turning over to freezing rain as the depth of the subfreezing layer shrinks to less than a 1000 feet. I am concerned about a prolonged period of icing mainly in areas from northwestern Middlesex County into Worcester County northward into NH. Meantime, I am also concerned about the zone where it will be plain rain and more than an inch resulting in flooding of poor drainage areas where we have clogged catch basins. There will be a light northerly wind well inland with an easterly wind freshening to 10-20 mph along the coast and somewhat higher on Cape Cod. There should not be much more accumulating snow except near the MA/NH border northward. Snowfall totals have ranged up to 1-3" closer to Boston with 3-6" near and west of the I-95 corridor with more than 6 inches many areas north of the Mass Pike and west of I-495. Jackpot areas of 8" or more are likely in a few spots over northern Worcester County but more likely up into NH. The precipitation tempo should lower this evening with intermittent lighter rain and mist later this evening and overnight but some icing may still exist in central MA northward where the temperature fails to reach 32. Watch out for areas of fog tonight as well. There will NOT be a any kind of a flash freeze in  the region tonight with the temperatures either holdng steady in the coastal plain and perhaps rising slightly deeper inland.

Tomorrow will be murky and gloomy with only some spotty showers of rain mixing with and changing to snow from west to east during the day. Temperatures will remain in the 30s until a cold front arrives later in the afternoon. The wind will be a nonfactor until it becomes a bit gustier after the frontal passage later in the day. After that, the freeze-up is on for tomorrow night so all the slush will turn rock solid as temperatures drop to the upper teens to lower 20s. Sunshine will be prevalent on Thursday with a brisk breeze in the morning and highs in the upper 20s. Enjoy the breather while it lasts because this active weather pattern contains a few more storms in the pipeline.

The next system will be approaching to produce a period of snow late Thursday night through Friday morning. The trick is determining if there will be a phasing of the northern and southern streams to crank out a 6-12" snowfall on Friday. It appears that a merging of the streams is inevitable but it may be just materializing as the storm passes by so we may not reap its full impact but still have to deal with plowable amounts near 6 iches many areas. Most of the region will have plain snow out of this event with just a risk of some rain mixed in on the outer Cape briefly. Once the storm deepens offshore, it will capture a chunk of the arctic chill progressing across Canada. Consequently, expect highs in the upper teens to lower 20s this weekend with plentiful sunshine on Saturday and a mix of clouds and sunshine on Sunday. By the way, it appears that another storm brewing over the Atlantic will bypass the region on Sunday but the resultant northeasterly wind over southeastern MA will probably crank out some ocean-effect snow showers as the cold arctic air flows in across the milder Atlantic. After some sunshine on Monday, the next storm could be threatening with snow beginning later Tuesday and lasting into Wednesday. YIKES!

We'll provide updates hourly on WBZ-TV and every ten minutes on WBZ NewsRadio 1030. A fresh blog will be posted later this afternoon.

Allow extra time for travel and have a safe trip on the roads!