410pm

Well now that I’ve accepted the fact that I blew the winter forecast this year, it’s just time to enjoy trying to forecast what the rest of the winter has in store. Pardon my absence for a couple of days. I was feeling under the weather (no pun intended… ok, pun intended..sorry). 🙂

A quick word on the storm that was. This storm turned out pretty much as expected. I missed the high end of the snow but a little bit, but the snow to water ratio ended up at nearly 20 to 1, which is even drier and fluffier snow than I expected in the Boston area. 7.5 inches fell here. You’ll see that along with snowfall reports from across southern New England here (from my friends at the National Weather Service in Taunton MA):

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&format=CI&version=1&glossary=0&highlight=off&issuedby=BOX&product=PNS

So, now the snow is done, though there is still blowing snow around as NW winds pick up a little behind the storm. Cold air is rushing in, and temperatures tonight across the Boston area will fall to the lower to middle teens, recovering only slightly to near 20 tomorrow under a sunny to partly cloudy sky.

Saturday night, some clouds will roll across the sky from the northwest as an arctic cold front approaches. This front will cross the region overnight or first thing Sunday morning, and may produce a brief burst or 2 of snow. Any of these bursts could be briefly heavy with gusty winds, otherwise known as a snow squall (fairly common occurrance with Arctic cold fronts). If you do see one, it will not last very long.

This front will usher in the coldest air that most of the region has seen in about 6 years. Temperatures should spend Sunday in the teens, but will fall to near or a little below zero in Boston Sunday night, and possibly as cold as -10 across some suburban and certainly rural locations in eastern and central MA, as well as southern NH. If the wind is light enough, some valley locations could see even colder temperatures. On Monday, under bright but ineffective sunshine, the temperature may never make it to 10 degrees in much of the region.

The cold will ease slightly as it makes it back to the 20s Tuesday, feeling relatively mild compared to Sunday & Monday.

The next storm threat seems to be coming along for the middle of next week. And though based on medium range computer models this storm has some significant potential to produce alot of precipitation, it is far too early to be sure in any detail how this system will impact this area.  Something to follow for sure, but in the shorter term be ready for very cold weather!