WINTER STORM WATCHES HAVE BEEN HOISTED FOR WESTERN WINDHAM COUNTY AND BENNINGTON COUNTY IN SVT… HEAVY WET SNOW WILL ACCUMULATE SEVERAL INCHES IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE SOUTHERN GREENS, AND POTENTIALLY 5-10″ IN THE HIGHEST TERRAIN… THE WATCH IS POSTED FOR 6AM FRIDAY TO 6AM SATURDAY… LIGHT SNOW ALSO POSSIBLE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY… THE VALLEY WILL SEE MOSTLY RAIN FROM THIS SYSTEM, UP TO AN INCH OF WATER, ENDING AS SNOW SHOWERS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING WITH SOME COATINGS POSSIBLE… WELCOME SPRING?
FULL WORM MOON RISES AT 6:41PM SO WATCH IT COME UP AS THE SUN GOES DOWN, AND SEND IN YOUR PHOTOS BELOW THIS POST PLEASE! :-) (6:10pm Wednesday)…
I wish a good highly-celestial evening to all! Man oh man, with the Vernal Equinox passing at 5:58pm, the Full Worm Moon rising at 6:41pm, and the Full Moon maximizing at 9:43pm, we’re pulling the Cosmos into our lives tonight!
Post your Moon pics here later please!
With respect to the winter, I feel a bit like Al Pacino tonight from The Godfather… just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! LOL :-)
I should know better when it comes to our weather in late March, especially given that I cover southern VT and other high terrain microclimates in our region.
Having said all that, please do me the distinguished honor of allowing me to undergo the process of Bulletization in front of your very eyes.
POOF! It’s Magic! (*insert picture of bunny rabbit and a top hat here*)
SUMMARY
–High pressure continues east and southeast of southern New England tonight
–We should have clear enough skies to get some sweet early Moon pics, but clouds will be increasing at night, so get outside and snap ’em!
–Lows will drop into the upper 20s tonight
–We should start off Thursday dry with mostly cloudy skies
–Remnant high pressure ridging will suppress the initial northward push of moisture, especially east of the I-91 corridor
–Some mixed rain and snow showers are possible by mid to late morning in the Litchfields, southern Taconics and Berkshires, maybe reaching SVT by noon
–There is a low potential for a burst of snow in the high terrain of northern Berkshires, western Franklin County and SVT where it could still be in the 30s, so a coating is possible
–However, we should turn to rain showers for a time, and there may be only isolated showers last into the late afternoon before our coastal low tracks further north
–Highs will rise into the low 40s over the high terrain, and mid 40s in the valley
–Our coastal low is pulled a bit west then originally thought, and should track right over Worcester, MA and eastern CT then curving toward Portland, ME
–Thursday late afternoon and night looks quite rainy for most of us, and between a half inch to an inch of rain should fall
–However, as the storm tracks towards Maine Thursday night into the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning, it will flip to snow in the high terrain of SVT, and possibly down into western Franklin County, western Hampshire County and the northern Berkshires and Taconics
–By Friday morning, light snow accumulations are expected in these areas, between a coating to 3″.
–Then the fun begins!
–As the storm strengths in Maine, we will see a confluence of wraparound moisture to the storm’s west, an increase in wind as high pressure nudges in from the west, an upper level low diving southeast into our atmospheric theatre, and the production of upslope snowfall across the Litchfields, Taconics, Berkshires, and Greens, inching into some western hilltowns
–Friday afternoon into Saturday morning will be snowy for folks in these areas, where as we may see some snow showers, rain showers, or even breaks of sunshine on Friday in the valley, especially the further east you go into CMass and northeast CT
–Friday night and Saturday morning features heavy snow in the Berkshires (especially northern half), the Taconics, SVT and western Franklin County and Hampshire County, along with northwest wind gusts to 40-45mp
–Power outages will be possible as heavy wet snow cakes onto everything and the wind comes and takes down some limbs and lines
–All in all by Saturday noon I think 1-4″ could fall in the Litchfields, southern Berkshires, southern Taconics, and western Hampden and western Hampshire county hills
–I think 4-8″ is more likely in the central/northern Taconics, northern Berkshires, and western Franklin County, and 6-12″ is likely in SVT, west of Brattleboro
–Some light accumulations are possible in Brattleboro and southwest NH of a coating to 2″
–Saturday morning will be snowy and windy in the hills and just windy and partly sunny elsewhere
–Everything winds down Saturday afternoon, but it will be a cold blustery day with highs in the upper 30s to low 40s
–Sunday looks sweet, sunny and very mild with highs in the 50s, and late next week looks milder too, so hang in there!
–And if that wasn’t enough, more light snow is possible by early next week as a moisture-laden cold front drops north to south through the region.
Also, if any hilltowners or others missed my annual support drive and you find my work helpful, I rely on you folks too. Please consider donating at the secure link below, and thank you very much.
LINK: https://www.westernmassweather.com/donate
Ok that does it folks, have a great night and post your Full Moon pics below please!!
—–
HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING! THE VERNAL EQUINOX OCCURS AT 5:58PM… AND THE FULL WORM MOON OCCURS TONIGHT JUST BEFORE 10PM… A MOST CELESTIAL EVENING INDEED! WE’VE GOT RAIN ON THE WAY TOMORROW, TURNING TO ACCUMULATING SNOW IN THE HIGH TERRAIN FOR LATE THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT FOR TACONICS, BERKSHIRES AND SVT… PLOWABLE HEAVY WET SNOW POSSIBLE IN THOSE AREAS WITH WINTER STORM WATCH HOISTINGS ALSO POSSIBLE… COATINGS POSSIBLE SOUTH AND EAST OF THERE… (6:55am Wed)
TODAY’S DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
TERRESTRIAL:
HIGH AIR TEMPS: Highs should rise into the mid to upper 40s in the Berkshires/Taconics/Litchfields, western hilltowns, SVT/SWNH, and N. Worcester County, while we reach the low 50s for the Pioneer Valley floor down into northern CT and in S. Worcester County.
LOW AIR TEMPS: Lows should drop into the upper 20s region-wide
SKIES: Mostly sunny on average
WINDS: Light southwest wind
NWS ALERTS: None
CELESTIAL:
–OUR STAR WILL RISE AT: 6:54am this morning
–OUR STAR WILL SET AT: 7:02pm this evening
–OUR MOON WILL RISE AT: 6:41pm this evening
–OUR MOON WILL SET AT: 7:32am tomorrow morning
–MOON PHASE: FULL WORM MOON
SUMMARY:
–Despite the snow coming for some of the high terrain areas of our region, we have much to be excited about
–Today is the first day of Spring!
–We’re already seeing more than 12 hours of daylight per day now!
–Sunset is happening after 7pm now!
–It’s a glorious full moon tonight!
–Despite the insanity of the world, there are still sandwiches in it, and if you can afford to eat a sandwich today, you arguably one of the luckiest people in the world!
–If you can read this post, your eyes still work, what a gift!
–Ok folks, with our appreciation of what we do have vs. complain-y focus on what we don’t have, let’s talk about our upcoming inclement weather impacts
TODAY AND TONIGHT
–High pressure is east of us today, and a southwest flow develops
–A beautiful day is on tap with highs cresting 50 degrees in a number of spots
–Tonight into early tomorrow morning is dry as well
RAIN AND SNOW THURSDAY
–An upper level trough becomes neutrally-oriented (i.e. a north to south axis) near Lake Ontario
–A southern stream storm system tracks northeast out of the southeast U.S.
–Said trough begins to orient negatively (i.e. a northwest to southeast axis)
–This will guide a secondary coastal low developing off of the VA coast northerly toward southern New England
–Thursday morning now looks to start off dry as moisture is delayed in getting in to WMass
–By mid to late morning some showers of rain and snow are expected to reach our region
–It may snow steadily in parts of the Berkshires, Taconics, western hills, and SVT for a brief time by late morning and coat some areas
–Everyone should turn to rain showers during Thursday afternoon into Thursday night as the storm tracks into southern New England
HEAVY SNOW POSSIBLE THURS. NIGHT
–While rain will be ongoing in the valley and low terrain areas, as this storm strengthens, the air above the Taconics, Berkshires and SVT should cool and flip to snow
–As we are in the “deformation zone” of the developing cyclone (i.e. the NW quadrant where heaviest and at times stationary precip banding occurs), it could snow heavily
–I think that by Friday morning we could see a coating to 2″ in the Litchfields, Berkshires, western hills and Taconics, with more like 2-5″ in SVT west of Brattleboro, including western Franklin County
MORE SNOW FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT
–While any of us could see some snow showers or mixed rain and snow in the valleys during the day Friday in the moist northwest flow pattern, additional accumulating snow is expected in BLGTs, as well as the western hills.
–This is due to upslope snow, which combines unstable, moist rising air forced up by the presence of mountains creating snow in the hills
–An additional 2-4″ (and maybe more) is possible for those areas through Saturday morning
All in all, some areas in SVT could see 5-10″ of snowfall if you live at high elevation in western Windham County or eastern Bennington County.
I would not be surprised to see the low to mid end of that range in western Franklin County, either.
Also, high wind northwest wind gusts of 30-50mph are expected Friday night into Saturday, so this could combine with heavy wet pasty snow to produce power outages in the northeast Berkshires, western Franklin County on up into SVT.
Ok, stay tuned for future updates on this late season high terrain winter potential, and have a great day!