A significant storm is traversing across the country and will bring flooding rain and severe thunderstorms to the Gulf Coast states Friday before making its way up the east coast.
Low pressure will strengthen as it dumps snow, ice and rain depending on location in a zone from the Appalachians to here in New England from Saturday to Sunday, respectively. While the exact track of the storm is still a bit uncertain, the center of the storm is likely to pass somewhere near or just southeast of Nantucket.
A flurry or light snow shower is possible Saturday late afternoon to early evening, but would not be impactful. Steady snow is set to arrive between 8-10 p.m. and will ramp up in intensity, especially after midnight. The "height" of the storm in terms of snowfall rates will be from 2-8 a.m. on Sunday, where at times, 0.5-1 inch per hour snowfall rates will be possible. After 8 a.m., the intensity should throttle back a bit, with light to moderate snow continuing at times through the afternoon hours before tapering off thereafter.
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How much snow is Boston getting?
Snowfall accumulations will be highest inland, north and west of where the rain/snow line sets up. Around 6 inches is likely (perhaps some higher totals) from Interstate 495 points north and west. Farther east and closer to the coast, amounts will be lower due to mixing with the rain/snow line coming into play.
From Interstate 95 to I-495, expect 4-6 inches, with 2-4 inches inside of 95 and likely only an inch or two in the city of Boston itself. For the South Shore, it's an inch or two, with a mainly rain event for Cape Cod.
How much snow are the rest of Mass. and N.H. getting?
Farther to the north, it’s a general 3-6 inch storm, with less in the far North Country.
Winter storm timeline, impacts
The snow will be a wet consistency (not cement -- but not super fluffy). Snow removal may seem a little extra difficult given the lack of snow so far this year (let's be honest -- we're a bit out of practice).
Road conditions will deteriorate overnight on Saturday and continue to go downhill through Sunday morning. Visibility will be reduced to a quarter to a half mile at times in the heavier bursts of snow, and slippery travel conditions will result. Pockets of outages and tree and limb damage are possible from the weight of the snow, but should not be widespread.
The wind isn't a big concern with this storm, though we'll see gusts of 30-40 mph along the immediate coast, and particularly the South Shore and Cape Cod will see some gusts 40-50 mph briefly Sunday morning to midday. The rest of us see gusts around 20-30 mph (out of the northeast, then north), creating wind chill values in the teens much of Sunday afternoon, and in the single digits by Monday morning.
Looking ahead to the next storm
Quiet weather is anticipated on Monday ahead of our next storm which is likely to be multifaceted. A burst of snow is set to arrive Tuesday evening through the interior, perhaps towards the tail end of the evening commute, depending on exact timing before changing over to rain Tuesday night as milder air moves in.
Rainfall amounts of 1-2 inches will elevate flooding concerns, and damaging wind gusts may come into play as well. Stay tuned for more on that in the days ahead.
