[A FEW FLURRIES POSSIBLE WITH ANOTHER MOSTLY CLOUDY DAY AS OUR NOVA SCOTIAN SWIRLER CONTINUES TO SIT AND SPIN SOUTH OF NEW SCOTLAND… IT FINALLY CONCEDES DEFEAT AND LUMBERS OFF TO THE EAST, ALLOWING FOR SUNNIER SKIES TO DEVELOP TOMORROW AND THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS A STORM STAYS SOUTH AND OUT TO SEA…SEASONABLY COLD TEMPS EXPECTED… NEXT STORM CHANCE IS TUESDAY, THEN LATE NEXT WEEK… LATTER HALF OF JAN INTO FEB COULD BECOME STORMY… 7:10AM WED]

Good morning everybody, we’ve got generally calm winds out there this morning, but the Berkshires are kicking up some gusts over 20mph at times.

Northwest wind gusts could blow region-wide between 15-25mph today, with highs ranging from the low to mid 30s in the high terrain, up to the upper 30s in the Springfield/Hartford metro regions. Skies should be mostly cloudy, with some sunny breaks possible here and there.

We could see a few flurries today as well, but I don’t think the surprise snow band that coated many central MA communities will develop again for our Wednesday.

For tonight, clouds will continue to slowly break up as our storm finally gets kicked east by a huge ridge of high pressure currently oriented from north to south through the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Deep South. Lows will be in the low to mid 20s.

The Thursday through Sunday period should produce mostly sunny skies and seasonably cold temperatures with highs in the upper 20s to low 30s in the high terrain, and highs in the low to mid 30s down in the lower elevations, with some upper 30s possible tomorrow/Thursday down in Springfield and points south and east. Lows will be in the teens to low 20s through the period.

By early next week, we’ll have to watch another storm system sweeping out of the South and toward the southern Mid-Atlantic coast to see if it will have any impacts up here, though at this writing, I don’t think it will, but I will monitor.

MORE WINTER STORMS LATE JAN INTO FEB?
Thereafter, we start entering a much more interesting period where the effects of a warming that is occurring in the Stratosphere above the Arctic Circle looks to downwell toward the surface and break apart the Polar Vortex, which in the North in the Winter is a normal counterclockwise circulation that, when strong, can keep cold air bottled up there, producing milder and less eventful winters for New England.

However, this circulation could be broken into two or three “daughter vortices” and when combined with an expected continued train of storms off of the Pacific, could combine to produce a much more stormy and wintry pattern here in New England during the latter half of January into February.

In other words, stay tuned, my friends… and have a great day!