DAYS 1-5 (DECEMBER 7-11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A west northwest flow of cold air and a passing disturbance turns what moisture is in the air a few thousand feet up into areas of clouds today. Sunrise this morning presented an opportunity for me to see a sunlit batch of snow virga (which I photographed), and this indicates that these clouds can produce a little flurry of snow in a few places if the flakes can overcome drier air near the ground, so I leave that slight chance in the forecast today. Tonight, a fast moving low pressure area moves our way via the Great Lakes. A warm front ahead of the system will generate a swath of snow across the region, producing a minor accumulation, especially from I-90 northward. The combination of less intensity and slightly milder air nearer the South Coast lessens the ability for snow to accumulate down that way. This system exits Sunday morning and we see fair weather return for the day. But our pattern is also injected with systems from an active Pacific jet stream and the next one moves in by later Monday. The set-up in the atmosphere will be a little more complex for the arrival of this system. While a weak cold front drops through the region as the Sunday system departs, it will sit to our south and try to be lifted back through as a warm front as the next low pressure area approaches later Monday, but will struggle to do so as low level cold will be hard or impossible to push out of the way, especially over inland locations. This means when that area of precipitation moves in, while warmer air aloft means it likely falls as rain in coastal areas up through the I-95 belt, inland areas to the northwest can see a variety of precipitation. And while this does not look like a big precipitation producer, even modest amounts of frozen or freezing precipitation will cause some travel trouble. I’ll take a shot at pinpointing this in detail on tomorrow’s update. This thrust of moisture exits by early Tuesday, and it looks like between that and the next Pacific system, much of our region will be sitting just north of a frontal boundary with a chilly, raw day Tuesday with stubborn cloud cover and even some drizzle around. We may have to watch surface temperatures over inland valleys for potential freezing drizzle. Again, I’ll revisit this potential tomorrow and try to detail it. This is particularly important because if we should see a slightly more defined low pressure area along the frontal boundary that gets to our east, it could pull in a little bit of dry air and thin out or even break up the overcast for a while that day, and it would be less “dank” than I’m predicting on this post. Finally, a frontal boundary will approach from the west Wednesday. A southerly air flow should finally be strong enough to push warmer air into the entire region at least for a few hours while a wave or two of low pressure pass by just to our west. This will bring widespread rain showers to the region, which provide further benefit in reducing the drought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TODAY: Variably cloudy. Very slight chance of brief passing snow flurries. Highs 29-36. Wind W 5-15 MPH, higher gusts possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TONIGHT: Becoming cloudy. Light snow from late evening on, arriving from west northwest to east southeast. Lows 21-28. Wind variable up to 10 MPH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SUNDAY: Cloudy early morning with snow ending – accumulations of 1\/2 to 2 inches except for under 1\/2 southeastern MA and RI. Clearing thereafter. Highs 37-44. Wind variable to W up to 10 MPH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SUNDAY NIGHT: Increasing clouds. Lows 27-34. Wind N up to 10 MPH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MONDAY: Thickening overcast. Rain arrives during the afternoon but may be mixed with snow\/sleet\/ice over some interior locations north of I-90. Highs 33-40 interior valleys, 40-47 elsewhere, mildest along the South Coast. Wind N to NE under 10 MPH interior valleys, E to SE 5-15 MPH elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MONDAY NIGHT: Overcast. Areas of fog. Rain likely. Temperatures generally steady 33-40 interior valleys to 40-47 elsewhere. Wind N to E up to 10 MPH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TUESDAY: Overcast. Areas of fog \/ drizzle. Highs 35-42 interior valleys, 42-49 elsewhere. Wind NE to SE up to 10 MPH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TUESDAY NIGHT: Overcast. Areas of fog \/ drizzle. Temperatures steady or slowly rising. Wind SE up to 10 MPH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WEDNESDAY: Cloudy. Widespread rain showers. Highs 50-57. Wind S 10-20 MPH, higher gusts along the coast and in elevated locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DAYS 6-10 (DECEMBER 12-16)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A strong cold front passes by early morning December 12 and we’ll have to watch for rain ending as a mix\/snow if the cold air arrives quickly enough. Remainder of December 12 trends drier but windy and turning colder. Generally fair and seasonably chilly weather expected December 13-14. Watch for a minor system to bring a precipitation threat December 15-16 (though probably not that entire time frame).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DAYS 11-15 (DECEMBER 17-21)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This outlook brings us through the final few days of astronomical autumn up to the winter solstice. Currently, the pattern looks fairly quiet overall with perhaps one minor system \/ precipitation threat in the December 18-20 window. I realize this is a broad window of time but guidance in medium range struggles to accurately simulate which disturbances may have noticeable impact in any given region. While the pattern does not look persistently cold, it doesn’t look warm either. So for now let’s just say “variable \/ seasonable”!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAYS 1-5 (DECEMBER 7-11) A west northwest flow of cold air and a passing disturbance turns what moisture is in the air a few thousand feet up into areas of clouds today. Sunrise this morning presented an opportunity for me to see a sunlit batch of snow virga (which I photographed), and this indicates that … Continue reading Saturday December 7 2024 Forecast (7:56AM)<\/span>