Good morning folks, we’ve already been dealing with rainfall, heavier at times, tracking northward through the region this early morning. However, with time this morning and through a good part of the afternoon intensity will come down with areas of scattered light to moderate showers.

That initial burst of heavier rain was connected to a warm front, which will continue to press northward and allow much milder temps to advect into the region, rising from the 30s this morning up well into the 50s to low 60s by this afternoon.

We’ve already been seeing gusts of 30-45mph in the northern Berkshires to southwest VT area, as these southerly flow events tend to develop wind better there due to terrain influences, but for most of the rest of us, we should see southerly gusts of 25-40mph develop by mid-afternoon or so today, ahead of the main event tonight.

As our Great Lakes Blizzard tracks northeast into southern Quebec tonight, it will drag its cold front toward western New England tonight, and the southerly flow running northward along that cold frontal boundary will push periods of heavy rain, mild temps, and stronger southerly wind gusts through the greater WMass region tonight.

Roughly between 6pm to 2am is when gusts should come up to the 35-55mph range with embedded thunder possible in heavier showers, which may cause some minor stream or street flooding.

In addition, as the cold front sweeps through before dawn, parts of the northern Berkshires and southwest VT may end as a brief period of snow or ice, so a few slick spots are possible up that way by dawn.

Behind the front for Tuesday, wind will kick around the west and gust 25-40mph at times as temps hang in the low to mid 30s with wind chills in the upper teens to mid 20s during the day, which looks partly sunny on average with a few Berkshire snow showers possible.

Lows Tuesday night will drop into the mid teens to low 20s with continued gusts up to 25mph possible, wind chills may dip into the upper single digits in the western high terrain by early Wednesday morning.

We look to maintain partly sunny skies for the mid-to-late week period with highs in the in the 30s on Wednesday, low to mid 40s on Thursday, and mid 40s to low 50s by Friday, so we’ll rebound to milder temps by end of the week.

The weekend, however, looks colder and more unsettled with at least two potential Clipper systems that bring periods of light to moderate rain or event high terrain snow by Sunday night, so I will keep you updated as the weekend picture become more clear.

Have a great day, peeps, and be sure to pack your galoshes and hold on to your hats tonight!

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”
― Joseph Campbell

YOUR NUTSHELL:
–Our early morning heavier slug of rain is mostly through the region
–The rest of the day until around 6-8pm should feature scattered light to moderate showers
–Temps come up well into the 50s to low 60s for highs
–Southerly gusts 20-40mph pick up by mid to late afternoon
–Between 6pm and 2am or so, the heaviest periods of rainfall with some downpours and strong wind gusts to 35-55mph run south to north through the greater WMass region
–That timeframe is the peak of the storm, up until the cold front sweeps the region before dawn, with temps holding well into the 50s to possibly 60º until then!
–The higher the temp the stronger the chance for a wind gust to 60mph or so, especially in CMass or northeast CT closer to the low level jet core
–Roughly 1-3” of rainfall expected, along with a chance for isolated power outages especially in elevated areas
–Minor street and or stream flooding possible, especially with the Housatonic and Deerfield River known low spots
–Rain may end briefly as snow in the northern Berkshires up into SW.VT before dawn as temps crash into the mid 20s to mid 30s, so watch for a few slick spots there
–The cold front turns the wind from southerly to westerly and gusts 25-40mph tomorrow / Tuesday as much colder air runs into the region
–Highs hang in the 30s under partly sunny skies with a few Berkshire lake effect snow showers
–Lows drop into the teens to mid 20s for a very cold mid-march night
–Wednesday is cold with highs mostly in the low to mid 30s under sunny skies wit lows in the low to mid 20s
–Thursday and Friday should feature highs in the 40s to low 50s by end of week with lows in the 20s to low 30s with fair conditions
–By the weekend, a couple Clipper systems look to dive southeast into the region and bring periods of light rain and/or snow

YOUR DAILY CELESTIALS
STAR:
–OUR STAR ROSE AT: 7:00am this morning
–OUR STAR SETS AT: 6:58pm this evening
–TOTAL DAYLIGHT TIME: 11 hours and 58 minutes

MOON:
–OUR MOON SETS AT: 4:27pm this afternoon
–MOON SET DIRECTION: West-Southwest
–OUR MOON RISES AT: 6:17am tomorrow morning
–MOON RISE DIRECTION: East-Southeast
–MOON PHASE: Waning Crescent (8.0%)