Now You See It... Now You Don't
It was a Saturday meltdown and remembering how quickly the deep deep snow of the 1997 April Fool's Day Blizzard disappeared, I didn't bother to shovel the 4.5 inches of wet snow on my steps and driveway yesterday morning. In most areas, that snow vanished in front of our eyes today except in some completely shady spots and where the snow was deeper across northern Worcester County northward. We definitely had a changeable sky today with some breaks of sunshine amidst lots of passing clouds that produced scattered showers. The wind was brisk and gusty with high temperatures of 50-55. Expect similar conditions tomorrow except with drier air and greater atmospheric stability, there should be more sunshine than clouds. Meantime, balmy air is expanding across much of the nation and we have a shot at a period of warmth arriving Monday evening and departing later Tuesday morning. An approaching warm front will be active and release a ribbon of showery rains on Monday when the temperatures will only rise to the lower to middle 40s after starting out in the lower to middle 30s early in the day. There is a slight risk that some snow and sleet could briefly introduce the wet weather early Monday morning mainly in areas north of Route 2. A disturbance in the upper level wind field could trigger a few patches of heavier rain with even some isolated lightning and thunder. The warm frontal boundary should be pressing into CT by early afternoon on its way to Boston by the evening. Once the frontal passage occurs, the wind will shift from east-southeasterly to south-southwesterly and increase to 20-40 mph with higher humidity. The temperatures will rise sharply Monday evening or possibly as early as late afternoon. The precise timing of the cold frontal boundary is unclear at this time but most signs indicate that it will sweep eastward and arrive in Boston 7-9 am. If this ETA verifies, it will be the warmest in the lower 60s at daybreak with cooler air rushing in from the west lowering the temperatures to the lower 50s during the morning with little rise in the afternoon. A few showers may break out ahead of the cold front but it appears that a ribbon of rain will fire up behind the front as a storm center develops off the North Carolina coast. As this system tracks northeastward, its shield of rain could soak southeastern MA later in the afternoon into the evening. This wet weather will shift southeastward and offshore Tuesday night with clearing and seasonable weather to follow. By the way, the current long range outlook for next Friday's 2pm Red Sox home opener against the Yankees is partly sunny with a 3pm temperature around 45 due to a cool seabreeze.
For the skiers and boarders, most of the resorts received 6-10″ of snow in NH and ME except Wildcat with 13", Sugarloaf with 12" and Saddleback with 15". The Berkshires and the Green Mountains were on the fringe and only picked up a few inches. For alpine and nordic skiers, the slopes and trails are in magnificent shape. There will be varying percentages of slopes that will be regroomed overnight from one resort to another with anywhere from 40-100%. For the most part, there is a residual deep snowpack with all of this fresh snow on top so you'll discover that many of the glades remain open as well. This latest storm did not produce the real light fluff that we all adore but you can bet on some dynamite conditions for your skiing and boarding pleasure. Mountain temperatures will rise to the upper 30s to lower 40s tomorrow when it should be sunnier with fewer clouds. Be courteous and careful on the slopes and please take a few runs for me.
Joe Joyce has the next updated AccuWeather Forecast and fresh blog tomorrow morning and I shall return later in the afternoon.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
