Good morning everybody, we’ve got fog in a number of spots this morning, along with areas of drizzle, showers and light freezing drizzle/rain in high terrain areas and north of the MA/VT-NH border.
This will continue during the morning with temps hanging in the low to mid 30s. Sometimes there will be a lull with no activity in spots, with the potential for some heavier precip as the low approaches by noon. Fog will dissipate later as well.
Powerful low pressure will bomb out as it tracks over southern areas of WMass and northwestern CT by early this afternoon.
This may cause temps to spike into the low 50s over northeast CT and the 40s over the Springfield metro region and points east through Hampden County into southern Worcester County today. Highs will reach the mid 30s to low 40s for most of us.
It is where temps warm the most that the highest wind gusts are expected, as wind is more easily mixed down when thermal lapse rates (i.e. the gradient of temperatures from surface to sky) are greatest/steepest.
Only 3000 feet up we are expected to have a SCREAMING low level jet of 85-100mph!
NOTE: Those speeds won’t mix down over the WMass region, instead we will gust 35-50mph this afternoon, maybe briefly higher in a few spots.
However, Cape Cod stands the best chance of seeing wind gusts of 70mph or so mix down to the surface as temps may spike toward 60 degrees, which is why High Wind Warnings are up for southeast MA and RI.
As our storm passes through the Springfield/Worcester corridor off to the Gulf of Maine, cold air will get ripped in behind it on these strong westerly winds.
This will turn any remaining precip over to snow in southern VT, southwest NH, the Taconics, the northern Berkshires, and northwestern hilltowns where a coating to up to 3″ of snow may fall, maybe even more in the high passes of SVT.
Temps will plummet later today and tonight with strong gusty winds continuing, and lows will drop into the teens, causing areas of black ice, so be careful when you out and about.
Driveways and walk ways that are already a sheen of ice, are going to really freeze up tonight, so you’ll need to apply your treatments to create passable surfaces by car and foot.
For Saturday, cold but sunny! Highs will be in the 20s, and winds may gust into the 20s of mph, though will be continuing to dissipate.
Once winds calm down Saturday night, that will combine with clear skies and dry air allowing temps to crash into the single digits, may be some spots will go below zero in SVT and SWNH.
Clouds increase Sunday, and a weak system may bring a rain or snow shower with highs in the 30s as high pressure passes off to our east putting us in a southwesterly flow.
Clouds increase again Sunday night as a larger system (though still rather weak) pushes east into the region. Temps will drop into the 20s overnight, so snow is expected to break out late, and may provide a couple of inches of accumulation by Monday morning before changing to rain showers on Monday.
We wil be milder next week with highs cresting 40 degrees for the first half of the week, with a couple of other disturbances possible.
Have a great day and hold on to your hats, very dynamic weather day on the way!!!