HEAVIER PRECIP DRAGGING SLEET AND SNOW IN TO THE SURFACE THIS EVENING… STORM IS DEVELOPING, MOVING EAST, AND WILL PRODUCE MORE WINTRY PRECIP TONIGHT (SNOW AND SLEET)… WHAT ARE YOU SEEING RIGHT NOW? (7:55pm Sun)
Good evening everybody, as you can see from the attached current surface pressure observations and regional radar, our low pressure system has been sending heavier rain, sleet and possibly snow in the Berkshires and SVT northwestward into the region. Rain continues in the lower elevations, mixed with sleet at times.
This system is now tracking east of our longitude, and so as heavier precip bands move through, sleet and snow is mixing in, and we’ll ultimately see a change to sleet/ice and snow overnight.
Has anyone flipped to all snow at this point? If so any accumulation?
This is always a tricky setup: that being no real Arctic air in place at the surface, with marginal surface temps (temps that are near or just above freezing), along with colder air aloft and precip rates of varying intensity.
To get full-on sleet or snow, we have to rely on the storm to produce its own cold aloft and heavy precip to fall and help bring that cold aloft to the surface. At times, we can flip to heavy snow in such cases. At other times, it’s a mix of sleet, rain and snow.
I still think that a coating to as much as 3″ of snow will fall tonight and into Monday morning as colder works in aloft and is produced at the ground level. However, there is a chance that as the storm tracks east, it could produce heavier precipitation bands further east over easternmost Franklin County, northern Worcester County, and southwest NY, where upwards of 4″ of snow may fall, again in the highest elevations in those sub-regions.
Anyway, it’s a stormy night out there, though luckily there is not much if any wind, so we have that going for us.
Please post any and all reports below, as well as accumulation amounts through the night, if applicable.
QUICK WEEK-AHEAD SYNOPSIS
I will update you in the morning, but for now, Monday looks like some snow or sleet in the early morning and then we will dry out ot mostly cloudy skies, with some sunny breaks late and highs near 40 and lows in the 20s.
Tuesday and Tuesday night represents the heart of a quick 24 hour cold snap with winds gusting to 30mph at times, highs in the 20s and lows in the teens.
Fair weather runs from Tuesday through Thursday before more rain arrives with mild conditions for the Winter Solstice on the 21st with highs near 50 before we cool back down for the weekend.
Post your reports below, and thank you!
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WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES CONTINUE, SLIGHT CHANCE OF FREEZING DRIZZLE/RAIN IN SPOTS THIS MORNING… OTHERWISE, CLOUDY UNTIL RAIN MOVES IN BY LATE MORNING/EARLY AFTERNOON WITH SOME ICING IN THE HIGH TERRAIN… THEN MOST OF US TRANSITION TO A PERIOD OF LIGHT SNOW TONIGHT… (8:00am Sun)
Good morning everybody, there is not that much difference in thinking for today when compared to last night, other than to say that it’s a bit drier this morning which may produce a relative dearth of precip.
Please scroll to the dashed line below, for below it is last evening’s post that’s still pretty much relevant to today. I will say that the biggest challenge to getting a period where many of us flip to accumulating snowfall is seeing lift and moisture make it up into the snow growth zone where the dendrite snowflakes form which stack up nicely. Please read below and I will update today and tonight!
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As the morning passes into the the afternoon, some of us in the lower elevation valley areas will warm above freezing which should produce plain rain showers, with patches of freezing rain and even sleet continuing in the high terrain above 1000 feet. Highs will reach the mid 30s tomorrow, but stay near freezing in the high terrain.
As the afternoon wears on and passes into the night, the low pressure to our south will be strengthening and pulling east of our longitude as it develops over the warmer ocean waters. This will cool down the mid levels of the atmosphere and should change any rain or ice north of the Pike over to a steady light snow at all elevations. A snow/ice/rain mix will be more likely both south of the Pike and east of the CT River.
Precipitation will last into early Monday morning before it quits around sunrise.
A total of a coating to as much as 3″ is expected, with coatings in the lower elevations, and 1-3″ in the high terrain. NOTE: Again, this is hinged on getting some lift up into the snow growth zone.
Travel with care tonight and early Monday morning, especially if you are driving in the hills and mountains.
Have a great dauy, and I will provide updates later.
P.S. If you need a 2019 wall calendar, I have a few extra weather wall calendars available. Just click below for pay online or pay by check options. Also, the pay online link has all the info about what you’ll get.
SECURE LINK: https://westernmassweather.com/calendar/
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