Good morning folks, be sure to scroll if you just want the Nutshell or Celestials, otherwise our weather going forward features a 1028 millibar (mb) high pressure system pushing east over our region today which will beget mostly sunny skies, light to calm wind, and highs in the mid 40s to low 50s.

Clouds will increase tonight as a warm front approaches our region, along with an attendant low pressure area that will develop along it. This front never really gets through the region overnight which will keep us on the colder side of the front with lows dropping into the low to mid 30s.

However, the front will get close enough to send scattered showers through our region and lay down around a tenth to quarter inch of precipitation with showers starting during the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday morning and lasting into the early afternoon.

These scattered showers will be in the form of snow, sleet and rain, or a mix, so don’t be surprised by wintry precipitation early tomorrow morning.

In fact, some areas like the Berkshires, western hilltowns, SVT, and northern Litchfield County CT may see some scattered coatings of wet snow by early to mid morning.

The Pioneer Valley should see mostly rain or rain and sleet, but I can’t rule out some snow early here as well.

Temps will come up into the mid to upper 40s under mostly cloudy skies on Wednesday, and shower activity of whatever form should turn to rain and become more isolated by afternoon. Lows Wednesday night will be in the mid to upper 30s so no black ice is expected.

By Thursday, we’ll still be watching the upper low that brought this recent cold snap lollygagging east into the Canadian Maritimes, but due to blocky flow to its east, it’ll be hanging around and sort of stuck in place for a bit.

This will help create a northwest flow pattern and with some higher pressure to our west, the pressure gradient will increase and wind gusts should pick up to around 20-30mph by Thursday afternoon.

At the same time, some showers will be possible mainly east of I-91 and especially in SWNH, CMass and northeast CT due to the influence of that stalling upper low to our northeast.

Highs will reach the 50s on Thursday with a mix of sun and clouds, and lows will dip into the 35-40º range.

Friday through the weekend, at the moment, looks partly to mostly sunny with highs in that 55-60º range. We may see some clouds increase Saturday afternoon and night due to a system passing to our southwest, but our stalling upper low will probably defect that storm away, though I can’t rule out a few showers in northwest CT by Saturday night.

Otherwise, the weekend looks great and that should carry into early next week with sunny skies in place.

Have a great day!

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

YOUR NUTSHELL:
–Cold start in the upper teens to 20s this morning
–High pressure builds overhead with sunny skies, light wind and highs mid 40s to low 50s
–Clouds increase tonight as a warm front approaches with a low developing along it
–The front stays southwest of us, keeping us on cool side, with lows low to mid 30s
–During pre-dawn hours, mixed showers of snow, sleet and rain develop and last through the morning
–High terrain snow and sleet and valley sleet and rain showers develop after dawn
–Some high terrain snow coatings possible
–Activity becomes isolated by afternoon, and turns to rain
–Highs only reach the mid to upper 40s under mostly cloudy skies
–Lows mid to upper 30s
–On Thursday, highs reach the mid to upper 50s with a few showers possible
–Partly sunny skies expected, westerly winds may gust 20-30mph
–Lows Thursday night mid to upper 30s
–Friday through the weekend looks like fair weather and highs in the 55-60º range with lows 35-40º and a few showers possible Saturday night

YOUR DAILY CELESTIALS
STAR:
–OUR STAR ROSE AT: 6:00am this morning
–OUR STAR SETS AT: 7:38pm this evening
–TOTAL DAYLIGHT TIME: 13 hours and 38 minutes

MOON:
–OUR MOON RISES AT: 8:45am this morning
–MOON RISE DIRECTION: Northeast
–OUR MOON SETS AT: 1:14am tomorrow morning
–MOON SET DIRECTION: Northwest
–MOON PHASE: Waxing Crescent (21.4%)