SNOW SQUALL WARNINGS NOW POSTED FOR SVT, THE TACONICS, AND SOON TO BE FOR THE BERKSHIRES AND LITCHFIELDS, PUSHING EAST INTO THE WESTERN HILLTOWNS, VALLEY AND REST OF THE REGION INTO CMASS… WIND ADVISORIES, WIND CHILL WARNINGS AND WIND CHILL ADVISORIES POSTED REGION-WIDE FOR TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING… (3:55pm)
Good afternoon everybody, snow squalls are pushing east over the Taconic State Parkway, Rt. 22 in eastern NY, and soon to move into Rt. 7 running N/S in the western Berkshires. These roads will become problematic for travel, if not impossible for a brief time in spots. The Pike west of Lee will also become very problematic for a time.
The darker blues in the attached radar still is the core of the squall line, but snow showers are developing out to the east and southeast of the line as moisture gets pulled in and air begins to lift ahead of the squall line, which is east of an Arctic cold front now draped N/S through central NY.
Gusts to 40mph will be possible, heavy snow with a quick coating to an inch of snow, and vastly reduced visibility.
If you get driving under one of these, proceed with caution, and be vigilant to traffic in front and back of you, and pull over if it is a safe area to do so and let the squall pass, as roads can become icy quickly.
If you are walking and get caught in it, seek shelter, unless you’re a nutcake like me, then god help you!
This line will proceed west to east and clear the region by 6-7pm. Be safe, everyone…
P.S. After this line passes, winds will gust 35-45mph tonight and tomorrow morning as temps plummet to 5-10 below zero with wind chill readings of 15-30 below zero tonight and tomorrow morning. Highs tomorrow are in the single digits, with lows below zero again.
We surface back to the land of the living by Friday afternoon…
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ATTENTION PLEASE: WIDESPREAD HEAVY SNOW SQUALLS MAY PRODUCE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS, THUNDER, STRONG WIND GUSTS AND A QUICK INCH OR TWO MOVE THROUGH BETWEEN 3-5:30PM THIS AFTERNOON… WIND ADVISORIES POSTED REIGON WIDE… WIND CHILL WARNINGS POSTED FOR THE BERKSHIRES, SVT AND WESTERN HILLTOWNS, AND WIND CHILL ADVISORIES POSTED FOR THE REST OF THE REGION FOR WIND CHILL READINGS 15 TO 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO FROM 11PM TONIGHT TO 9AM TOMORROW MORNING… GEAR UP… (7:50AM Wed)
Good morning everybody, it seems like many of us received 3-6″ of snow from last night’s storm, definitely a beautiful morning out there! Obviously there will be some slick spots in places, so take care on the road ways.
Mostly sunny skies develop with highs in the 20s, but the big story today and tonight will be expected widespread heavy snow squalls followed by brutal cold for about 36 hours.
HIGH IMPACT SNOW SQUALLS POSSIBLE
Look, as you know, I loathe hype around the weather. For instance, naming storms makes my hair light on fire, which is probably why my receding hair line continues to recede #IllBeHereAllWeek
But sometimes, wouldn’t you know it, the weather becomes extreme and causes major impacts to human beings. It happens, and I’m not going to downplay things because a few folks are jaded from past predicted strong weather that, at times, does not come to pass.
Those folks can put on their big boy and big girl pants and grow up. Hey now, who needs some coffee and didn’t sleep well? THIS GUY.
Ok, enough punchy banter… in short, this afternoon has the potential to be one of those times that a truly dangerous event (mainly for motorists or pedestrians on the road ways) could unfold.
SQUALL SET UP
As Arctic air pushes eastward, a cold front will approach the region. Ahead of that front, moist air will be drawn from south to north along it, and then be lifted as rapidly as I’ve ever seen, to be honest, with lapse rates exceeding 9 degrees Celsius per Kilometer, which is a drop of about 16 degrees F in temperrature every 3000 feet from the ground to the sky – such a situation produces RAPIDLY rising moist air, which will condense out and produce very heavy snow, and possibly thunder.
Usually, squalls are in a broken line, meaning some folks don’t get anything. My concern is that this is going to turn into a solid, long line from CT up into SVT, and rake the region from west to east. We will see how this plays out.
In addition, lapse rates of that strength much more easily allow strong wind from a mile or two up to mix down to the ground, so wind gusts of 40-60mph are possible as these squalls move through, which is why Wind Advisories are posted (they’re also posted becuase of the wind that ushers in the Arctic air behind the front tonight).
TRAVEL IMPACTS AND POWER OUTAGES
Very heavy snow with wind gusting 40-50mph can produce whiteout conditions, which produces very low to zero visibilities.
Squalls can move in rapidly, and withint 10 minutes, if you are out on the road, not only does your visibility go down causing dangerous travel situations, but a quick coating to 2″ of snow can fall within 15-30 minutes, causing roads to ice up fast.
Some isolated power outages will be possible as well if we get winds to gust 50-60mph even for a brief time.
IMPACT TIME IS 3-6PM
If you have to travel during this time today, are driving home in the evening commute, or find yourself on the roads this afternoon and early evening, please be alert to weather conditions changing. These squalls will blow in from the west.
The worst wind potential exists along and south of the Pike in WMass and CMass, down into CT, but the whole region looks to be impacted.
I sure hope these fizzle, but I just don’t see it right now, so you’ve been warned.
BRUTAL COLD TONIGHT AND TOMORROW
And if that wasn’t enough, we’ve got Wind Chill Warnings and Wind Chill Advisories (along with Wind Advisories) for tonight and tomorrow.
Lows tonight will plummet into the single digits below zero, maybe even -10 in the high terrain, and then highs only in the single digits tomorrow, and lows below zero tomorrow night.
Winds will gust 35-50mph at times tonight behind the squall line, and continue into part of tomorrow, at least the morning, so gear up for very cold weather through Friday morning.
Friday through Sunday will feature fair weather with moderating temperatures, with mild conditions early to mid next week and rain showers, with some mixed precip in the high terrain possible.
Have a great day, and I will update you early this afternoon as to timing of snow squalls.
Keep an eye to the west this afternoon, and stay safe out there…