Western Mass Regional Weather for February 23, 2023


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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
–Weekly Nutshell (Quick impact list)
–Sponsor Note (Tandem Bagel Co.)
–NWS Alerts (Advisories, Warnings, Watches)
–Celestial Data (Sun/Moon info)
–Regional Summaries (quick in and out details)
–Morning Discussion (Longer-form explanation)
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DAVE’S WEEKLY WEATHER NUTSHELL
–Snow, sleet, freezing rain, rain, and even thunder moved through overnight, please post pics and measurements below
–Slippery travel out there with numerous accidents reported, and the MassPike down to 40mph for the whole road, go slow
–More sleet, freezing rain and rain (rain mainly Springfield south early)
–After these icy showers move through this morning, we’re going to see temps *DROP* today, get colder, and freezing drizzle will develop in spots, so roads will refreeze if melted and untreated, be careful
–Highs at or below freezing, then a final wave moves through with more sleet and freezing rain starting around 5pm and quitting before midnight
–West winds pick up to 25mph overnight, then northwest winds will gust 30-45mph tomorrow as Arctic cold blasts into the region behind a cold front, a snow shower is possible
–*CLEAN YOUR SURFACES*, this icy cement isn’t going anywhere
–Temps will drop all day Friday into the single digits at night with wind chills below zero as blustery conditions continue
–Saturday is cold but party sunny, a few snow showers, milder but seasonably cold Sunday, a few snow showers
–Monday could be the calm before the storm as pattern gets blocked up, sending cold south into our region as a coastal storm develops, we could have a moderate to major snowstorm Monday night into Tuesday, but before we jump into the weather discussion/details below, let’s check a note from our local and delicious sponsor, #TandemBagelCo, with their newest location in West Springfield, MA.
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A NOTE FROM OUR SPONSOR:
Dave Hayes The Weather Nut is Sponsored by Individual Community Members, Patrons & Tandem Bagel Company… No matter the weather, Tandem Bagel is always there for you at several valley locations to make your mornings brighter! With bagels baked fresh daily (including Gluten-Free options), house-whipped cream cheese, coffee, and tons of lunch options, Tandem is the perfect quick stop for lunch, breakfast, or a coffee and bagel to go. Find them in Easthampton, Northampton, Hadley, Florence, and West Springfield, or use their super-streamlined online ordering tool by visiting their website.
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***DHTWN DAILY WEATHER REPORT***
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NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALERTS
–Winter Weather Advisories for the entire region today/tonight… Wind Advisories for the Berkshires and western hilltowns tomorrow

DHTWN REMINDER
–It doesn’t take much to do a nice thing for somebody that you don’t know.

DAILY CELESTIAL (STAR):
–OUR STAR ROSE AT: 6:35am this morning
–OUR STAR WILL SET AT: 5:32pm this evening
–TOTAL DAYLIGHT TIME: 10 hours and 57 minutes

NIGHTLY CELESTIAL (MOON):
–OUR MOON WILL SET AT: 9:50pm this morning
–OUR MOON WILL RISE AT: 8:52am tomorrow morning
–MOON SET DIRECTION: West-Northwest
–MOON RISE DIRECTION: East-Northeast
–MOON PHASE: Waxing Crescent (13.8%)
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DAILY TERRESTRIAL
ZONE 1 – Northern Region
(Southern VT, Southwest NH)
–High Temps: Mid 20s to Low 30s
–Low Temps: Low to Mid 20s
–Winds: East-Northeast winds gust 15-25mph today, then turn west tonight up to 25mph, then northwest tomorrow to 45mph
–Sky Cover: Overcast
–Precipitation: Periods of snow and sleet, additional light accumulations this morning, freezing drizzle this afternoon, freezing rain and sleet tonight

ZONE 2 – Central Region
(Western MA, North-Central MA, Northern Litchfield CT)
–High Temps: Upper 20s to Low 30s
–Low Temps: Upper teens to mid 20s
–Winds: East-Northeast winds gust 15-25mph today, then turn west tonight up to 25mph, then northwest tomorrow to 45mph
–Sky Cover: Overcast
–Precipitation: Periods of sleet and freezing rain this morning, additional light ice accumulations this morning, freezing drizzle this afternoon, freezing rain and sleet tonight

ZONE 3 – Southern Region
(South-Central MA, Northern CT)
–High Temps: Low to Mid 30s
–Low Temps: Low to Mid 20s
–Winds: East-Northeast winds gust 15-25mph today, then turn west tonight up to 25mph, then northwest tomorrow to 45mph
–Sky Cover: Overcast
–Precipitation: Periods of freezing rain and rain this morning, freezing drizzle and plain drizzle this afternoon, freezing rain and sleet tonight
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MORNING DISCUSSION
Good morning everybody, we’ve had everything but the kitchen sink for weather overnight with snow, sleet, freezing rain, rain, and thunder, with some downpours of precipitation as well.

Please post your pics, current conditions, snow/ice totals, or any ice accretion you’ve measured on twigs or branches.

Here’s the Bottom Line: Be careful walking or traveling today, as conditions will be slippery and hazardous in many areas.

A meteorologist in Boston that I greatly respect, Dave Epstein, commented how Emergency Departments at hospitals often get crowded on days like today, because people don’t tread with caution as they get their morning paper or walk their dog.

Obviously, just do the best you can, and being aware is a part of that effort to stay safe and free from harm.

Moving forward, we have more snow, sleet and freezing rain (and plain rain down in north-central CT up into parts of central Hampden County) this morning in the form of showers moving west to east.

Basically, our high temps are being experienced NOW, and as the weak coastal storm that developed along this frontal boundary that brought our wintry mix mess tracks east of the Cape/Islands today, northeasterly flow will develop and colder air will drain south into CT River Valley and much of the region, cooling our temps down below freezing, causing refreezing of any liquid water.

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This will combine with the departure of the main precip shield, but we’ll be left with patches of freezing drizzle today adding additional ice glaze to the refreezing of standing water, slush, and icy lameness.

Highs in the 30s this morning, will drop into the 20s to around freezing by the afternoon, so conditions will not improve today and ongoing road treatments will be needed.

By around sunset into early evening, a final wave of low pressure will move through and bring a final batch of freezing rain and sleet showers to ice things up even more tonight. Ice accretions in the eastern Berkshires and western hilltowns may reach up to a quarter inch or so. Hooray!

East and northeast winds that gust to 25mph today, will switch to the west behind our final wave tonight, gusting to 25mph, with lows in the upper teens to upper 20s from north to south.

On Friday, an Arctic cold front swings through and further freezes things in place, so again, clear your paths/driveway/walks/cars, etc.

Highs will again be experienced in the morning (upper 20s to low 30s) and then drop during the day as northwest winds crank up to 30-45mph, with some isolated outages possible, along with a snow shower or two.

Winds continue at night, and temps will plummet into the single digits, causing wind chills to drop below zero, and as low as 15 below zero in the high terrain! Very cold and wintry tomorrow night, indeed!

The weekend looks drier, but mostly cloudy with a few breaks of sun, and occasional scattered snow showers with highs in the low to mid 20s on Saturday and mid to upper 30s on Sunday, which is seasonable. Lows will be in the teens and 20s respectively.

By Monday, we are going to be watching a more blocky pattern setting up that will help keep cold-enough air draining south into our region as a coastal storm develops to our south.

It should be a partly sunny day to start, but clouds will be building into the region with highs in the low to mid 30s.

By nighttime, we could be seeing accumulating snow developing and lasting into Tuesday and even Tuesday evening as this storm will likely *not* be progressive.

Folks, it’s several days away, but this it the best look I’ve seen all season long for a substantial, widespread snowstorm in WMass, CMass and points north (some mix is possible south of the Pike), and there are more storm signals after it (next Friday, and the end of the following weekend), so please stay tuned for updates as all of a sudden, Winter has returned.

Have a great day, be careful with any travel of any kind, and if you appreciate and value my work, please consider supporting it via my 2023 Member/Support Drive… any monthly or one-time amount is helpful, thank you:

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AND REMEMBER…
“Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you’ve got a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies: Goddamn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
–Kurt Vonnegut

By |2023-02-23T07:17:16-05:00February 23, 2023|Current Forecast|

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