ALERT: SPRING HILLTOWN SNOW STORM POTENTIAL CONTINUES TO GROW FOR MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING… IN ADDITION, LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE TONIGHT IN THE HIGHEST PEAKS ALONG/NORTH OF THE RT. 2 CORRIDOR IN WMASS AND CMASS, UP INTO SVT AND THE MONADNOCK REGION OF SWNH AS COLDER AIR WORKS INTO THE REGION LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING… 7:30am Sat…

Good morning everybody, and Happy Passover to those who are began celebrating after sundown last evening.

As we swing through the middle of April, I imagine the last thing people want to hear about is the potential for snow, but I’ve mentioned in the recent past that this 3rd week of April could bring something wintry, and that continues to be in the cards for us here in southwestern New England.

This time of year, storm track and timing of precipitation arrival are more important than ever to produce accumulating wet snow, even at elevation.

But the timing looks to spot on, with an arrival around midnight into the pre-dawn morning hours of Tuesday, which is the coldest time of night. If the storm tracks a bit further east then some guidance is showing, then we could have enough cold air established with dynamic cooling making the column colder from sky to surface, we could be talking about several inches of wet snow in northwest MA and southern VT, with a couple of inches in the northern Worcester hills, eastern Franklin County highlands, and parts of southwest NH.

So that potential is there, and I will keep you updated on it as we get closer, but let’s turn to our immediate weather expectations.

For today, some morning sunny breaks will give way to building clouds, but it’s mild out there!

Temps are already in the 50s and southwest winds already gusting up to 25mph in the warm advection pattern with southwest flow!

Highs will climb into the mid 50s to mid 60s today with southwest winds gusting to 30mph at times.

Clouds will continue to thicken, and a few isolated showers are possible through early to mid afternoon, but most of us should remain dry… except for southern VT and northwest MA, which is where by noon or early afternoon more robust showers may get their act together.

Certainly by mid to late afternoon in that northwest-zone region, showers are expected to become much more numerous and heavier as the cold front presses into the region.

By late afternoon and early evening, the the front makes its pass through and overspreads showers across the greater WMass region, quitting by or before midnight.

As the showers get heavier late afternoon and early evening, rain should flip to snow for the high peaks of southern VT and possible northwesternmost MA (generally above 1500 or 2000 feet in elevation). Snow may even mix into northern Worcester County and southwest NH.

We can’t rule out a coating to an inch or so of wet snow on grassy surfaces in the Berkshires, western hills and SVT, with the spine of the southern Greens possibly seeing 1-4″ tonight.

Lows tonight will drop into the low to mid 30s as we start drying out toward Sunday morning.

On Easter Sunday, it will be noticeably colder with northwest winds gusting to 25mph or so at times, and highs only in the low to upper 40s.

We can expect fair weather for the morning with mostly sunny skies and dry conditions, but with a cold pool of air moving overhead and descending closer to the surface, clouds will bubble up and produce a partly sunny to mostly cloudy afternoon, with isolated showers at times, some of which may produce graupel, which are snowflakes coated with rime ice that sort of crumble like tiny white DippinDots when they hit the ground (a/k/a soft hail).

That activity dries up with the setting sun, and it’ll be COLD Sunday night, with lows down in the upper 20s to low 30s, so protect any plants or veg that needs protecting if you’ve put anything in the ground or soil.

Monday is gorgeous, sunny, highs in the 50s, perfect spring day.

However, clouds will be increasing by mid to late afternoon, as a strengthening storm will be deepening out of the Tennessee Valley and headed over the middle Appalachians and off the DelMarVa coastline headed to southeastern New England.

This coastal low looks potent, and likely to produce a cold rain for many of us Tuesday morning after midnight into the day, with lows Monday night in the 30s.

It’s a fast-moving system, but if it tracks east enough, it could bring accumulating high-terrain snowfall into the Berkshires, western hills, and even in the northern Pioneer Valley north of Northampton, east into the northern Worcester highlands and north into SVT and SWNH.

Several inches of wet snow could be possible, and if it perfected itself, some folks could see up to 5 or 6″ of wet snow, which is enough to cause isolated power outages.

In fact, many of us may start as snow or sleet before going to rain on Tuesday morning, and that is likely how this storm ends, as a rain storm for all before quitting by afternoon.

Tuesday looks cold with highs only in the 40s, talk about a raw morning! Lows will be in the 30s.

A ridge should then build into the region by mid to late week with fair weather and highs in the 50s and low 60s, so any snow that accumulated would be leaving quickly, which is the nature of spring snowfalls.

Stay tuned for updates, especially if you live up in the hills and mountains of southwest New England!

Have a great day!