Snow, Sleet & Freezing Rain Tonight Will Change To Rain For All Day Wednesday

For The Rest Of This Afternoon: An area of high pressure will push to the east this afternoon as an area of low pressure takes shape over the Mid-Atlantic states. Sunshine will be filtered through increasing clouds the rest of this afternoon with skies becoming completely cloudy by sunset. Temperatures will be between 40 and 45 Degrees. Winds will be Northeast at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Through Wednesday: An area of low pressure, which will be located over the Mid-Atlantic states during Tuesday evening will move northeastward and pass near the south coast of New England by Wednesday morning. That low pressure system is then expected to move across the Gulf of Maine during Wednesday afternoon before heading into Atlantic Canada by Wednesday evening. The big question with later tonight and Wednesday’s forecast is how long will wintry precipitation in the form of snow, sleet and freezing rain last until it changes to rain everywhere across the region. It’s not an easy question to answer as it’s uncertain as to how quickly the cold air will be removed and the milder air moves in. One change in the forecast is that it appears that the snow may not last as long as previously thought. That comes with a price, however, as it’s possible that there could be a little more sleet and freezing rain across the Berkshires, across areas west of I-91 and across areas in the Worcester Hills (especially in the area near Route 2). Another difference in the forecast is that areas east of I-190 and east of I-395 will probably stay all rain throughout the entire storm with any wintry precipitation being confined to areas along and west of I-190 & I-395. In Terms Of Forecast Details, Here Are My Latest Thoughts: Precipitation in the form of snow across Western Mass and in the form of snow across areas of Central Mass near and west of I-190 and I-395 is expected to begin between about 8 and 10 pm this evening. Across areas of Central Mass that are east of I-190 and I-395, rain will develop by about 10 pm or so this evening. The snow looks to be rather short-lived as warmer air at the mid-levels of the atmosphere pushes northward. This means that we should see a changeover from snow to a period of sleet and freezing rain near and south of the Mass Pike around midnight while rain continues across areas east of I-190 and I-395. The snow then looks to change to freezing rain and sleet north of the Mass Pike by about 2-3 am Wednesday morning. The forecast then becomes a lot more complicated as there’s uncertainty as to how quickly the mixed precipitation will change to rain. The areas that I think will see an extended period of freezing rain with ice accumulations of around one tenth of an inch (0.10”) are the Berkshires, areas west of I-91 and areas in the Worcester Hills that are north of Route 9, east of Route 32 and west of I-190. This means that a change from freezing rain and sleet to rain looks to occur first across areas near and south of the Mass Pike and also in the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass around midnight. Areas north of the Mass Pike (outside of the Pioneer Valley and west of I-190 & I-395) should stay as freezing rain and sleet for a few hours after midnight tonight with the changeover to rain occurring by about 4 to 5 am or so. The Berkshires and areas west of I-91 may be last area to change to rain, which looks to occur by about 8-9 am Wednesday morning. Rain is then expected to continue throughout the day on Wednesday and then come to an end by sunset Wednesday. Snowfall Amounts look lighter than previously thought. It now looks like areas east of I-190 and I-395 will see no snow at all. Across the rest of Western and Central Mass, snow amounts look to range from a dusting near and south of the Mass Pike to less than one inch in areas from north of the Mass Pike to areas south of Route 2. For areas near and north of Route 2, it appears that snow amounts of around 1 inch at the very most looks likely before it changes to freezing rain and sleet. Ice Accumulations tonight are expected to range from nothing across areas east of I-190 & I-395 to an extremely light glaze on elevated surfaces across areas near and south of the Mass Pike and across the Pioneer Valley. Areas north of the Mass Pike and areas west of I-91 may see ice accumulations of less than five one hundredths of an inch (0.05”). This could be enough to lead to some slick conditions after midnight tonight. It should be noted that the Berkshires, areas west of I-91 and areas in the Worcester Hills that are north of Route 9, east of Route 32 and west of I-190 (this includes Paxton, Holden, Rutland, Barre, Hubbardston, Gardner & Fitchburg) could see around one tenth of an inch of ice from after midnight tonight until the early morning hours of Wednesday. Low temperatures tonight will be between 28 and 32 Degrees. High temperatures Wednesday Afternoon will be near 45 Degrees. Winds tonight will be Northeast at 10 to 20 mph. Winds on Wednesday will be North at 10 to 20 mph. Thursday Through Monday: An area of high pressure will control the weather for late this coming week into early this weekend. This means that Thursday will be sunny to partly sunny with high temperatures between 40 and 45 Degrees. Winds will be West at 10 to 20 mph. Friday looks sunny with high temperatures between 40 and 45 Degrees. Saturday looks sunny to partly sunny with high temperatures between 35 and 40 Degrees. Turning to Sunday and Monday, I am going to be keeping an eye on a storm system that will be moving up the East Coast of the United States. At this point, it appears this storm system may stay too far east to give us any problems. That said, it’s a system that I’ll be watching closely. Sunday and Monday both look partly sunny with high temperatures both days between 35 and 40 Degrees.