[WED-7:10AM] WINTER STORM WATCHES HAVE BEEN HOISTED REGION WIDE… WIND ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN HOISTED FOR THE BERKSHIRES, WESTERN HILLTOWNS, WESTERN WINDHAM AND BENNINGTON COUNTIES VT WHERE FLOOD WATCHES ARE STILL UP… WHIPLASH WEATHER WITH PATCHY FOG EARLY AND NEAR RECORD WARMTH TODAY, WIND THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING, COLD AND CALM THURSDAY, AND HEAVY SNOW AND SLEET ON FRIDAY… ALSO IN THE RECENTLY-HOISTED DEPT. IS MY 2022 MEMBER/SUPPORTER DRIVE…
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TODAY’S DATE: Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Good morning folks, it is VERY mild out there, and our temps will climb a bit more into the late morning before a powerful cold front slices through the region turning our wind from southwest to west/northwest, setting the stage for an impactful winter storm on Friday, but before we dive into the details below, let’s check a note from our local and delicious sponsor, #TandemBagelCo, with a new 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, 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 now West Springfield!), or use their super-streamlined online ordering tool by visiting their website: https://www.tandembagelco.com
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***DHTWN WEATHER REPORT***
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DAILY CELESTIAL
–OUR STAR ROSE AT: 6:34am this morning
–OUR STAR WILL SET AT: 5:33pm this evening
–TOTAL DAYLIGHT TIME: 10 hours and 59 minutes
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–OUR MOON WILL SET AT: 10:10am this morning
–OUR MOON WILL RISE AT: 1:38am tomorrow morning
–MOON PHASE: Third Quarter 55.3%
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DAILY TERRESTRIAL (ZoneCast)
ZONE 1 (Northern Region)
Southern VT, Southwest NH, N. Taconics NY
–High Temps: Mid to Upper 50s, falling quickly in the afternoon
–Low Temps: Low to Mid Teens
–Wind: Southwesterly gusts 20-30mph, shifting to West / Northwest afternoon evening, gusting to 30-45mph, up to 50mph possible in the southern Greens
–Skies: Mostly cloudy shifting to mostly sunny by afternoon
–Precipitation: A few showers this morning, then drying
ZONE 2 (Central Region)
WMass, N. CMass, N. Litchfield County, C./S. Taconics NY
–High Temps: Upper 50s to Mid 60s, falling quickly in the afternoon
–Low Temps: Mid Teens to Low 20s
–Wind: Southwesterly gusts 20-30mph, shifting to West / Northwest afternoon evening, gusting to 35-50mph, highest in Berkshires and western hilltowns
–Skies: Mostly cloudy shifting to mostly sunny by afternoon
–Precipitation: A few showers this morning, then drying
ZONE 3 (Southern Region)
S. CMass, S. Litchfield County, NC.CT, & NE.CT
–High Temps: Low to Mid 60s, possibly upper 60s in Hartford Metro region
–Low Temps: Low to Mid 20s
–Wind: Southwesterly gusts 20-30mph, shifting to West / Northwest afternoon evening, gusting to 30-40mph, highest in Litchfield County
–Skies: Mostly cloudy shifting to mostly sunny by afternoon
–Precipitation: A few showers this morning, then drying
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DISCUSSION:
Good morning everybody, we had about 0.40″ to 1.25″ of rainfall last night and temps are super mild this morning as a parcel of southerly air has arrived in southern New England.
We’ve got big big weather changes with wind, crashing temps, heavy snow and sleet on the way for the greater WMass region through the rest of this week, so let’s dive right in.
RECORD HIGH TEMPS TODAY, TEENS TONIGHT
–Temps are already well into the 50s today, and they will climb into the mid 50s to mid 60s from north to south, possibly reaching the upper 60s in Hartford!
–Some records could be broken today (see attached chart)
–Clouds early with a few showers possible, will eventually break up and reveal a partly to mostly sunny day by afternoon
–Southwest winds will gust 20-30mph later this morning
–A cold front will slice through the region by noon or early afternoon, and temps will fall precipitously this afternoon and evening
–Wind Advisories are up, due to the expected wind shift out of the west and northwest, with a punch of wind possible behind the front with peak gusts 30-50mph (highest Berkshires, western hills, and southern Greens VT)
–Wind gusts will sit down to 25-40mph during the evening, and should slacken after midnight under clearing skies
–Lows will plummet into the teens to low 20s for the most part (see “Daily Terrestrial” above for more zoned-in detail)
–Thursday looks to be under influence of strong high pressure to our north, with highs only reaching the low to mid 30s under mostly sunny skies and light winds
SNOWSTORM, SOME SLEET THURS NIGHT / FRI
–Clouds will increase Thursday night and cold high pressure will drain cold air south of Canada into the greater WMass region
–Lows will bottom out into the upper teens to low 20s as clouds increase, and halt a further temperature decline
–A storm will be ejecting east-northeast out of the southern Ohio Valley and heading to the New Jersey coastline
–At the moment this looks like a simple, primary low setup that just tracks east or east-northeast, staying south of Long Island, RI, and the Cape, keeping us on the cold side of the system
–It’s not all that impressive in terms of deep low pressure and resultant wind, but it will have some juice with it, and with a cold high north of us, that should help suppress the mid level warmth from getting farther north than somewhere in Massachusetts
–In other words, it looks like a solid snow and sleet producer
–For now, it continues to look like the MassPike area will be where the snow/sleet line sets up, but we still can’t rule out that line bobbing as far north as the Rt. 2 corridor
–Regardless, snow moves in during the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning, and a classic front end snow thump is still expected for everyone in the greater WMass region, with rates of 1″ or more per hour into at least the mid morning, if not late morning
–We’d have to see either a stronger low than currently depicted or its track being more northerly to get sleet en masse further north than the Pike up to Rt. 2 or the VT/NH state line, so I will continue to monitor and will update you again this evening
–The bottom line is that this continues to look like a 6-12″ snowfall where it stays all snow, and more like a 3-6″ snowfall followed by sleet where the mixing sets up, likely along and south of the Pike with all snow north
–The snow should lighten in intensity by afternoon, but may continue light to moderate in intensity throughout the day, before ending by evening
–Whatever it does, I will providing in-storm coverage all morning, noon and night long until this thing ships out of here
–Highs will reach the upper 20s to low 30s on Friday, and lows will be in the low teens
FAIR WEEKEND, SUN/MON STORM LIKELY OUT TO SEA
–The weekend looks great, with mostly sunny skies Saturday and highs in the upper 20s to low 30s, and highs well into the 30s under partly sunny skies
–Lows Saturday night will land in the teens, and then single digits Sunday night with a reinforcing cold front, which should also suppress a coastal storm south and out to sea
I hope you have a great day, and if my work is useful or valuable to you and yours, please click below to see the myriad of support options available during my 2022 Member/Supporter Drive. Thx!
SECURELY BECOME A 2022 MEMBER OR SUPPORTER
Joining my 2022 Support Network today helps sustain this service and resource for tomorrow.
(Options for Cards, PayPal, Venmo, or Check)
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