Good morning everybody, we have some dynamic high elevation weather on the way with a combination of accumulating snow, blowing snow, and wind gusts reaching or possibly exceeding 50mph out of the west and northwest today and tonight.
We can thank a highly anomalous upper level trough (i.e. that is an area aloft of lower than average pressure which fosters inclement and/or cooler surface conditions) which is currently sticking its cold and snowy finger immediatley over the WMass region as I type, and swiping eastward like a giant smartphone user intimating that “Yes, I’d like cold and snow for southwest New England, please”.
And the atmosphere is responding by allowing for a combo of upslope (i.e. orographically-induced, or the presence of mountains causing their own precip by forcing air to rise, condense, and snow/rain over them) and lake effect snow showers, some on the moderate/heavier side, to fall from the Litchfields north through the Berkshires/Taconics up into SVT, and reaching some of our western hilltowns before evaporating into the valley floor, you know, where snowstorms come to die.
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MY 2021 WEATHER WALL CALENDAR SECURE LINK
(PURCHASE ONLINE OR VIA CHECK)
https://westernmassweather.com/product/2021-dhtwn-weather-wall-calendar/
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This will cause light accumulations in those areas this morning, and the rest of us may see a flurry this morning before skies just go to partly sunny with highs in the low to mid 30s.
Wind gusts out of the west are already climbing over 30mph in the Berkshires, and this wind will spread east as our trough finger continues its eastward swipe through the region, and it will become quite blustery today, especially in the high terrain.
With winds gusting 30-50mph pretty much through the entire day, any leftover foliage-y trees will have even more leaves taken down, so I hope you photographers got those final “Snowliage” shots the other day!!
A rare opportunity, indeed :-)
Morning snow showers in the western high terrain quits for a while this late morning into the afternoon before re-firing once again, thanks to a trailing shortwave that will dive southeast and foster a strong lake effect snow band that could orient itself across much of the longest span of Lake Ontario.
This band will push snow back into SVT first overnight, and then it will slowly sag south through the region with time into the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning.
Lows tonight will dip into the upper 20s to low 30s.
After any morning snow showers, the lake effect band should quit as Tuesday morning wears on, but not before several inches will fall in various amounts over northwest MA and SVT high terrain, with lighter amounts possible in the Litchfields and western hilltowns.
Highs on Tuesday will reach the upper 30s to low 40s with wind gusts to 30mph possible. Lows will be in the 20s.
Wednesday is our swing day, with sunshine and highs in the low 50s and lows in the upper 30s.
Then we turn on the warmth as a big upper level ridge forms over the eastern United States to replace this big cold trough we’ve been dealing with, which will swing northeast and lift out of the region.
We’re looking at a sunny, dry, mild stretch from Thursday through the weekend with highs in the upper 50s to mid 60s.
A very pleasant end to the week!!
Hope you have a great day, thanks for reading, and please consider supporting my work here by buying a colorful local gift for you or yours in the form of my 2021 Weather Wall Calendar with great local fan photos, link below…
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MY 2021 WEATHER WALL CALENDAR SECURE LINK
(PURCHASE ONLINE OR VIA CHECK)
https://westernmassweather.com/product/2021-dhtwn-weather-wall-calendar/
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