Today: Fair sky, chilly breeze. Highs around 30, wind chill 20. Tonight: Clouding up. Lows in the teens. Thursday: AM flurries, PM snow. Highs in the upper 20s.
A quiet Wednesday across New England with much-needed sunshine comes courtesy of a slug of dry – but chilly – air from Canada.
Melting will be slow, but not absent in southern and central New England as temperatures near the melting point. That won’t be felt by New England residents, though, thanks to a persistent northwest breeze through the day that holds the wind chill values in the teens until it finally eases Wednesday evening.
In Texas, more snow, sleet and freezing rain is falling on an already suffering population, leaving many without power, heat or clean drinking water from the recent spate of winter storms.
Like its predecessor, the midweek Texas storm will head for New England. But unlike the last storm, it’s unlikely to carry enough warmth for much sleet or rain, except perhaps on Cape Cod. Most of New England should see mostly snow from this event.
Clouds thicken overnight Wednesday night and a swath of light snow is possible as soon as predawn Thursday across Connecticut, Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. While not a guaranteed, the setup is favorable for a light band of snow well ahead of the actual storm as the first surge of moisture arrives aloft.
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Regardless, by midday Thursday the snow is filling in across Connecticut, then by early afternoon through much of the remainder of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. From 2 to 5 p.m. we should see a northward expansion of snow to southern New Hampshire, continuing to expand north overnight Thursday night.
Heaviest snowfall rates are expected to expand from Connecticut, Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts Thursday afternoon to the remainder of southern New England Thursday evening. Then lighter snow may fall into Friday until another stronger burst is possible midday Friday and perhaps into Friday afternoon.
It’s that second burst of snow – farther out in time from this forecast – that is the most uncertain. It would be pivotal to adding a couple of final inches to the snow to achieve predicted snowfall totals. If, as we draw closer, that final burst of snow appears it will fail to materialize, snow amounts may end up slightly lower north of the Massachusetts Turnpike and especially in southern New Hampshire.
Regardless, while the wind will gust over 20 mph Friday – and perhaps as high as 35 mph near the coast – significant wind or power outages are not expected before the snow ends Friday evening.
The clouds will give way to breaks of sun Saturday, more sun Sunday and cool air both days. Another disturbance is forecast to cross New England Monday with a chance of snow and rain, then we’ll see fair weather and some melting for the middle of next week in our exclusive First Alert 10-day forecast.
