Massachusetts

Is snow coming to Boston Thanksgiving weekend? Here's what we know

A map that's circulating on social media that shows two feet of snow across Massachusetts is likely wrong. Here's why.

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With the snap of the fingers, we’ve entered a whole new realm in the weather pattern. Thursday's rain is welcome, but there’s already lots of buzz and speculation on a potential Thanksgiving snowstorm.

If you’re reading this, you’re likely searching for something concrete to make plans around. After all, it IS the holiday season, and the last thing you need is to a hit the road with a carload of family and fixin’s in a blizzard.

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HOWEVER, if you’ve lived long enough in these parts, you know that it’s WAY too early to nail down specifics. (Silly, in fact.) So, here’s what we DO know this far out:

When will the storm arrive? The pattern is more active, giving us timing issues on the arrival of the storm. Yesterday, it was smack dab on Thanksgiving. Today it’s trending toward Friday … or even Saturday. This leads us to the second point...

A graphic showing a cold pattern settling over the northern U.S. and Canada for Thanksgiving weekend 2024, with a low pressure system that could bring snow to Massachusetts and New England.
NBC10 Boston
A graphic showing a cold pattern settling over the northern U.S. and Canada for Thanksgiving weekend 2024, with a low pressure system that could bring snow to Massachusetts and New England.

Will it snow at all? The storm could fizzle and move out of reach, looking at it this far in advance. We’ve seen this TOO MANY times in the last two winters. Storm ripples in the atmosphere are like waves on the ocean. They can sometimes cancel each other out (conversely, they can amplify) or significantly weaken in route.

Will it be cold enough for snow? It certainly seems cold enough for snow away from the coast, but here too, we’ve been duped. The models tend to overplay the cold in the extended (5+ day) range, and this bias has been verified in even our top-notch guidance (i.e. the European model). So that map that’s circulating on social media that shows two feet of snow across the commonwealth is LIKELY WRONG. So wrong, I’m not even going to show it.

So sit tight, follow the forecast from reputable sources (like us), and enjoy the wet weather in the coming days.

A graphic showing the expected high temperatures in the coming days in the Boston area.
NBC10 Boston
Top Massachusetts transportation officials provided a look at what to expect this Thanksgiving travel season at an event at Boston Logan International Airport on Tuesday morning. Follow NBC10 Boston: https://instagram.com/nbc10boston https://tiktok.com/@nbc10boston https://facebook.com/NBC10Boston https://twitter.com/NBC10Boston
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