FIRST ALERT: Back-to-Back Bursts to Deliver Snow to New England

A biting cold wind chill Monday morning subsided as the northwest wind eased and soon will shift direction ahead of the next approaching disturbance.

That disturbance will bring increasing clouds to New England Monday night and predawn snow showers on Tuesday that will last into the morning commute. In the depths of a snowy mid-winter, Tuesday’s morning snow showers would probably be glossed over, but this season any morning commute snowflakes have been pretty rare.

That means New England drivers are still acclimating, so the slick spots resulting from snow on sub-freezing roads will likely cause some trouble.

As Tuesday wears on, a rain line will progress northward from the South Coast at the same time precipitation breaks up to scattered showers. That means most of Southern New England probably will be reduced to a fairly low-impact event by mid to late morning, with a coating of one or two inches of snow to scattered light rain showers for the afternoon.

Northern New England, and even parts of Southern New Hampshire, will see a steadier morning snow, breaking into snow showers for the afternoon, with a few inches of accumulation. Scattered showers of southern rain and northern snow continue Tuesday afternoon and evening before a refreshed burst of rain and snow swings through early Wednesday morning with little impact south, but another few inches of snow in Northern New England, delivering two day totals of 6 to 12 inches in the mountains.

As both Tuesday and Wednesday’s disturbances merge for a stronger storm to our east, cold air will push into New England, drying most of us out for the end of the week before a new storm moves off the Eastern Seaboard on Sunday. Whether that storm impacts New England depends on the track. At this point, our exclusive in-house guidance has a 35 percent chance of snow, including at Gillette Stadium for the Patriots playoff game. We’ll keep you posted.