Today (Monday): Cloudy with a few sprinkles and flurries. Highs around 30. Overnight Monday Night: A wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain.changing to rain late south and east. Temperatures around freezing. Tuesday: AM interior freezing rain, northern snow, otherwise rain showers. Highs near 40 south, 30 north.
A slow-moving frontal system with multiple storm centers rippling along it over the past several days has left a path of destruction behind: multi-vehicle crashes in Fort Worth, TX, Friday, Nashville, TN, Saturday, Oklahoma City Sunday and from Alabama to Pennsylvania Monday morning.
New England finds ourselves in the cross-hairs of this system Monday evening into Tuesday. Most of Monday brings just passing light snow showers from time to time -- light rain showers at the south coast -- but a shot of steadier light snow is expected from west to east in northern New England Monday afternoon. After dinner our First Alert Team expects snow – light at first – to increase in coverage across New England.
From 10 p.m. to 3a.m., the intensity ramps up as steady snow falls in the northern half of New England and any brief snow in southern New England changes to sleet and freezing rain. Above-freezing temperatures will very slowly migrate inland from the Atlantic Ocean in the latter half of Monday night into Tuesday morning, affording a change from freezing rain to plain rain near the coast first, then gradually farther inland Tuesday morning.
The problem is many interior areas – particularly from the Interstate 95 corridor points north and west – will see at least some ice accretion from freezing rain, meaning icy travel conditions.
Farther inland, particularly near and outside Route 495, enough freezing rain falls Monday night into Tuesday morning to wash away road treatments and cause recurring glazing that will require frequent re-treatments, while a stretch from Northern CT to Central and Western MA into Southern VT, Southern NH and the Maine Coast to the Maine Turnpike will see continued icing into Tuesday morning sufficient not only for dangerous travel but also for potential power outages as branches, limbs and power lines themselves are weighed down by ice.
By midday Tuesday, most spots either will have warmed above freezing – Cape Cod will jump to 50 degrees with a gusty south wind – or at least will see the intensity of precipitation wane, leaving only light showers behind for the afternoon, then clearing Tuesday night.
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As the clearing moves in Tuesday night, temperatures will drop below freezing which means a re-freeze is likely for many communities with areas of black ice where moisture lingers on roads.
Wednesday brings chilly sunshine and a busy breeze while our next storm organizes over the Southern Plains, headed east and predicted to arrive to New England Thursday sometime around midday or early afternoon.
With cold air in place ahead of the storm, accumulating snow is expected to bring the plows out across most of New England Thursday before another change to a mix of snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain is expected Thursday night into Friday morning, likely leaving tapering showers Friday.
Perhaps the brightest news of the weather forecast for those looking for quieter weather is the weekend continues to look promising with fair sky and cool temperatures before another, weaker round of rain and snow is possible to start next week in our exclusive First Alert 10-day forecast.
