Western Mass Regional Weather for January 4, 2023


DAVE’S WEEKLY WEATHER NUTSHELL
–The last of the showers are tracking east down region between the Rt. 2 MA to Rt. 9 VT/NH corridors this early morning
–We’ll see a mostly dry day with some patchy fog (some may be dense early) or patchy drizzle at times
–It will be milder south, cooler north, then seasonable winter temperatures return tomorrow and beyond
–Rain moves back in this early evening, lasting through pre-dawn hours, and turns to freezing rain after midnight in parts of SVT, SWNH, northern CMass, and the high terrain of Franklin County into the northern Berkshires
–Steadier precip departs by dawn, but lingering freezing drizzle and freezing rain showers will cause slick spots overnight and into Thursday morning
–Cold air continues to seep south with cold air damming during Thursday, with freezing drizzle developing south into all western hilltowns, much of Franklin County and much of CMass
–We transition to sleet or light snow showers late Thursday night into Friday, with rain/snow mix during the day as mid-level wave moves through
–Cold and fair weather for the weekend
–Wintry Clipper system possible for early next week, otherwise fair weather expected, 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:
DHTWN Is Sponsored by 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 are up for southern VT, southwest NH, northern Berkshires, western hilltowns, Franklin County and CMass

DHTWN REMINDER
–The odds of being a human is 1 in 400,000 billion… make it count, even in a small way (see Kurt Vonnegut quote at end of post)

DAILY CELESTIAL (STAR):
–OUR STAR ROSE AT: 7:18am this morning
–OUR STAR WILL SET AT: 4:31pm this evening
–TOTAL DAYLIGHT TIME: 9 hours and 13 minutes

NIGHTLY CELESTIAL (MOON):
–OUR MOON WILL RISE AT: 2:26pm this afternoon
–OUR MOON WILL SET AT: 6:34am tomorrow morning
–MOON RISE DIRECTION: Northeast
–MOON SET DIRECTION: Northwest
–MOON PHASE: Waxing Gibbous (94.5%)
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DAILY TERRESTRIAL (ZoneCast)
ZONE 1 (Northern Region)
Southern VT, Southwest NH, N. Taconics NY
–High Temps: Low to Mid 40s
–Low Temps: Low to Mid 30s
–Wind: Calm and light variable
–Skies: Overcast
–Precipitation: Early morning showers give way to patchy drizzle at times, otherwise dry through the day, then rain showers arrive this evening, last through the night, and turn to freezing rain or freezing drizzle after midnight in spots, watch for slick travel

ZONE 2 (Central Region)
WMass, N. CMass, N. Litchfield County, C./S. Taconics NY
–High Temps: Mid 40s to Low 50s
–Low Temps: Mid 30s to Low 40s
–Wind: Calm and light variable
–Skies: Overcast
–Precipitation: Early morning showers in northern MA give way to patchy drizzle at times, otherwise dry through the day, then rain showers arrive this evening, last through the night, and turn to freezing rain or freezing drizzle after midnight in high terrain spots, watch for slick travel

ZONE 3 (Southern Region)
S. CMass, S. Litchfield County, NC.CT, & NE.CT
–High Temps: Upper 40s to Mid 50s
–Low Temps: Upper 30s to Low 40s
–Wind: Calm and light variable
–Skies: Overcast
–Precipitation: Patchy drizzle at times, otherwise dry through the day, then rain showers arrive this evening, last through the night
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MORNING DISCUSSION
Good morning everybody, you know, sometimes it’s really hard to get up in the morning and face the day. I don’t mean me, specifically, but just as a person. At times we’re just facing down bad news, family and friend problems, this one got hurt, that one died, and then the weather doesn’t help with fog, rain, ice, drizzle, and general gloom.

But it can be helpful to remember that above all of that overcast is our Sun shining brightly, and it’s always shining brightly, always on, never failing to produce light, heat, and the reactions, materials and building blocks for life (all the planets are ejecta from our star, as our our bodies).

So if you’re down, maybe close your eyes and picture the Sun above the clouds, or even look deeply into the gray stratus and imagine the Sun behind it, and know it will show itself again soon enough.

As for our weather, I’m going to list things out like I did yesterday, as you are all busy people with things to do and places to go and people to see.

SUMMARY
–Final showers moves through this morning in northern MA and SVT/SWNH
–We’re also seeing patchy fog, some of it dense notably in Worcester and parts of the Berkshires
–Patchy drizzle will linger this morning, but we should get a drier period that is just overcast with a few peeks at the sun’s disc through the cloud cover
–Highs will reach the 40s north, and into the low 50s to perhaps mid 50s south (in CT, most likely), depending on where the frontal boundary ends up across the WMass region
–Another wave of low pressure moves into the region this evening and spreads more rainfall through
–Rain lasts until the pre-dawn hours, but should start to change to freezing rain or freezing drizzle along and north of the Rt. 2 corridor in the northern Berkshires, Franklin County and northern Worcester County up into SVT/SWNH
–This is why Winter Weather Advisories have been posted by the NWS
–Icy roadways may develop there before dawn and into the early morning as cold air seeps south due to cold air damming from high pressure to our north draining surface cold south, and our low pressure tracking east, pulling colder air in as well
–Lows will dip into the 30s overnight, and the low 30s in those aforementioned areas
–Cold air continues to seep south tomorrow which should cause freezing drizzle to form in the western hilltowns, much of Franklin County and much of CMass
–I am not sure this reaches Northampton, but I will be watching temps tomorrow
–Highs will only reach the 30s
–By later Thursday night, a mid-level shortwave starts to track east toward our region, which will cool the entire column of air from surface to sky
–Lows will dip to freezing
–Any patchy drizzle or freezing rain turns to light snow showers into Friday morning
–The heavier precip may hold off until the mid-day timeframe, which would likely produce light snow in the hills and rain or rain/snow mix in the valleys
–Highs will reach the mid 30s to low 40s with lows in the 20s, and some coatings are possible in the high terrain
–The weekend looks fair and cold with more clouds than Sun Saturday, and finally a fully sunny day on Sunday (aptly named) with highs in the mid to upper 30s and lows in the 20s
–We may see a Clipper system move through the region early next week with continued seasonably cold temps, but more on that as we get closer

Have a great day!

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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 |2023-01-04T07:27:01-05:00January 4, 2023|Current Forecast|

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