Are You Ready? Timing, Impacts, Snowfall Totals for This Week's Big Winter Storm

Clouds overhead, increasing winds, and a few light showers expected Thursday. We’re all leaning in to the big storm system that has been making headlines in the South and Midwest. It promises to deliver a deluge and get the winds whipping again.

Much has been anticipated with this storm, especially the snowy signs it has thrown across western Massachusetts and Vermont, with some projections up to three feet! While those forecasts have been tempered, the speculation has swirled around whether or not some cold will sneak into the picture as the storm pulls away Saturday morning, turning our rain to snow.

Timeline, impacts for this week's winter storm

More on that in a moment. First the timeline.

We’ll see the clouds spit out a few showers or periods of mist on Thursday afternoon as the air saturates. Winds will slowly ramp up through the day as well. The worst of the storm will hit from mid-morning through the afternoon Friday.

Expect a driving rain and strong winds at the coast. There could be pockets of flooding along with isolated power outages as winds top 50 mph on the Cape Cod and 30 to 45 elsewhere. Winds and rain will ramp down late Friday night as the storm pulls away. It’s then that the colder air rushes out of the higher elevations of western New England.

This looks to be too little, too late for any significant accumulation. The best chance for a plowable snow is in the higher terrain of western Massachusetts, southwest New Hampshire and the highest elevations of central Massachusetts.

Rain-snow line for this week's storm

What is often overlooked in these setups is the upper level support for snow. If the storm intensifies in time, it can wrap the cold (and snow) very efficiently and shove it all the way to Cape Cod if time permits. This is not one of those cases. The storm strengthens after it passes southern New England, so our chances for a changeover (and accumulation) diminish. As a result, we’re only expecting snow in the higher elevations of southern New England.

Snowfall totals for Mass., NH

Nor'easter next week?

The weekend will settle down and cool off. It’s the start of a quiet spell into the middle of next week. The pattern is hinting at a sizeable storm by next Friday.

Rain? Snow? That's still somewhat uncertain. There's plenty of time to sort it out, but the threat is looming and the pattern is ripe for a coastal storm or nor’easter.