Good morning folks, we’ve already got winds cranking up past 40mph out in the Berkshires and southwest VT with Wind Advisories hoisted out that way, and this morning will develop into a gusty period with 25-40mph speeds at times as pre-dawn fog evaporates with drier air sweeping into the region with mild temps.

These temps will drop (enjoy your highs for the day!) throughout the day as colder air advects into the region and falls back through the 30s by afternoon with wind chills down near 20º in the Berkshires.

Another period of rain showers is pushing northeast into southeastern NY out of northeastern PA, and that moisture BEHIND the front will meet up with the colder air moving into the region.

This will fall in the form of rain showers in the mid to late morning, but may mix with sleet over the Litchfields and Berkshires into the western hilltowns toward mid day.

Additional areas of showers will develop as colder works into the region this afternoon and should mix with or change to snow, with very light accumulations possible west of I-91 and up to an inch or two in the Worcester Hills if everything comes together with the cold and precip.

Otherwise, areas of scattered light mixed showers changing to snow showers can be expected this afternoon and early evening before we dry out.

Temps fall all the way down into the 20s tonight for lows, but hopefully continued gusts of 20-30mph overnight will evaporate any snow melt and help to dry surfaces to prevent more widespread black ice.

For Friday, we’ll be trending cloudier as the day wears on with highs only in the 35-40º as a Clipper system approaches from the west, slated to track east through central New England to our north.

This will push some mixed rain/snow showers into the region by mid to late afternoon, and some additional light accumulations of a coating to an inch or two are possible in the high terrain. Lows will drop into the upper 20s to low 30s.

By Saturday, that system vamooses to the east, and then more strong wind gusts will develop in its wake, possibly as high as 30-50mph as partly sunny skies develop with highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s and lows again in the 20s.

By Sunday another storm system will developing into a blizzard over the western Great Lakes region while strong high pressure positions itself in the western Atlantic.

This will put us into a Malachi Crunch (Happy Days reference) with a strong pressure gradient developing over New England. Southerly winds will pick up by Sunday night with rain showers, and by Monday heavy rain will be possible with southerly gusts up to 50mph or more.

Highs will spike well into the 50s on Monday, but then another cold front will sweep east through the region by Monday night and tamp our temps back down into late-winter reality for Tuesday and Wednesday with highs only in the low to mid 30s which are unseasonably cold (story of our Winter).

Lotsa changes upcoming, and lotsa wind to be honest, with gusty periods today/tonight, Saturday, and again by Monday!

Have a great day, peeps, and be sure to check the Nutshell and Daily Celestials below, or join the conversation on Facebook at the bottom link!

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

YOUR NUTSHELL:
–A cold front is slicing through the region this early morning
–Westerlies already gusting over 40mph in the Berkshires, SVT
–Gusts of 30-45mph expected this morning after fog lifts
–High temps are experienced this early morning, dropping thru the day
–Wind chills will be in the low 20s over Berkshires by afternoon
–Periods of rain showers later this morning may mix with sleet by afternoon
–Then areas of light snow will form with some coatings possible, maybe up to an inch in the high terrain either side of the CT River Valley
–Winds gust to 30mph tonight, lows in the 20s
–Friday trends cloudier with an Alberta Clipper system moving into the region
–By afternoon and evening, highs reach the 35-40º range with periods of valley rain and elevation snow showers, with light accumulations possible in the hills by Saturday morning
–Saturday behind the Clipper looks windy, with gusts 30-50mph possible, highs upper 30s to mid 40s with wind chills in the 20s under partly sunny skies
–Lows will drop into the 20s
–Sunday is mostly cloudy, with rain developing by evening or overnight
–Strong blizzard low over Lake Superior combines with strong western Atlantic Ocean high to produce strong pressure gradient over New England
–This causes strong mild southerlies to develop Sunday night into Monday with gusts to 50mph possible and heavy rain at times
–Flooding issues may develop on Monday into the afternoon with highs in the 50s for a day
–Another cold front sweeps the region with more westerly gusts and colder air by Tuesday and Wednesday as we dry out

YOUR DAILY CELESTIALS
STAR:
–OUR STAR ROSE AT: 7:07am this morning
–OUR STAR SETS AT: 6:53pm this evening
–TOTAL DAYLIGHT TIME: 11 hours and 46 minutes

MOON:
–OUR MOON SETS AT: 12:00pm this afternoon
–MOON SET DIRECTION: Southwest
–OUR MOON RISES AT: 4:20am tomorrow morning
–MOON RISE DIRECTION: Southeast
–MOON PHASE: Waning Crescent (40.1%)