Good morning, Following is an update on a complicated storm system that is expected to bring a wintry mix to interior Southern New England starting Sunday night. While much of this wintry weather event will be mainly Sunday night thru Monday night, a continuation of wintry weather accumulations is possible in parts of northern and northwest MA into Tuesday. *What Has Changed*: *Winter Storm Watch Issued:* In effect from Sunday Night until Tuesday Afternoon for northern CT into western and central MA. *Main Weather Concerns: * 1) *Possible ice storm* in the higher terrain of western and central MA (eastern slopes of the Berkshires & Worcester County hills) into Tolland, Windham and western Hartford Counties in CT. Freezing rain is expected to begin in those areas Sunday evening and continue into Monday evening, with temperatures around 28-30 degrees. While some of these areas may transition to rain into Tuesday, additional light freezing rain, sleet or snow accumulations are possible across northwestern MA. Current projections are for between 0.25 and 0.50 inches of ice accretion (and potentially greater than 0.50" in some locations) in the Winter Storm Watch area. Uncertainty continues as to the amounts and timing of precipitation type transitions. 2) *Mixed bag of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain during the morning commute on Monday. * Any snow on the front end in northeast MA is expected to be short-lived and turning over to sleet and rain Sunday night into Monday. Lesser accumulations of freezing rain and sleet are expected across northern RI into the I-495 corridor in eastern MA. *Confidence...and what could still change:* We have high confidence that this storm system will occur and produce a wintry mix. While confidence has increased on precipitation types and the potential for significant icing in the Watch area, there remains low to moderate confidence on accumulations and distribution of precipitation types in northern RI into northeast MA. A colder scenario than currently forecast would mean less freezing rain and possibly significantly more sleet and/or snow. The potential exists for higher freezing rain totals in the high terrain of western and central MA into northern CT, which, if true, could lead to power outages and downed trees/wires. Attached images are the current Winter Storm Watch area, and forecast snow and ice accumulations. If you have any questions or would like more information, don't hesitate to contact us via this email address, on NWSChat <https://nwschat.weather.gov/>, or at the following: National Weather Service Boston/Norton, MA 46 Commerce Way Norton, MA 02766 508.622.3280 Website <http://www.weather.gov/boston> | Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/NWSBoston> | Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/NWSBoston>
