Our next storm system will be…messy, to say the least.
Our brief warmup and snowmelt turns to pure ice by Friday night as temperatures crash again. In between the big temp swing is a storm bringing all precipitation types: Rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow.
Our temperatures for tonight and tomorrow stay in most places above freezing; certainly milder in southern New England by afternoon, as highs will be in the 40s. Scattered rain already moves in for Thursday south, a mix to snow north.
The snow showers continue in northern New England through Friday, while southern New England and Boston is more complicated. A sharp cold front heads in Thursday into Friday and this is the reason we'll see such a wide variety of precipitation types, with cold air to the north and warm air to the south, with the Mass. Pike and Boston in the middle.
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We expect rain in Boston, with temps in the 40s for Thursday into Friday morning. Southern New England will be windy with strong gusts from the southwest. The changeover from rain begins along Route 2 and the Merrimack Valley, so that’s when freezing rain or sleet will set in. We may be back and forth with the ice and rain in Boston through the Friday morning drive and lunchtime.
By the evening drive, Boston is changing to sleet, freezing rain and snow. We expect the ice to accumulate around 0.2 to 0.5 inches in southern New England, with less across Cape Cod. It only take a glaze to create big problems traveling, though. Then the snow piles on top, with 2-4 inches of snow likely for Boston, less south of the Pike, 4-6 inches in the Merrimack Valley, and we go to 6-12 inches for interior northern New England and in the mountains through Friday night. We may pull back on the snow totals slightly in southern New England, depending on how long it takes for the cold air to reach these areas.
Everything freezes up Friday night as temps crash to the single digits and teens by predawn Saturday. Highs will be in the mid 20s Saturday with some sun and breezy. Sunday brings us another day of sun with highs in the low 30s. Certainly a nice quiet weekend compared to last.
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Next week we have multiple waves of low pressure that will track near New England. So we won’t be completely dry all week long, but the chance for precipitation next week has lowered a bit.
