Good morning.
Confidence remains high for a wintry mix of precipitation that will move across the region early Thursday morning, impacting the morning commute. Temperatures will rise through the day, though, so expect the snow to change to rain from south to north by around midday.
A second stronger storm will approach by Thursday night, bringing rain across most of the region. Heavy rain will fall across the region. Pockets of street and poor drainage flooding are likely, especially across north central and northeast Connecticut, Rhode Island and from the Boston to Providence corridor south and east to Cape Cod and the islands. Expect temperatures to remain in the lower-mid 30s across northern Massachusetts and the higher terrain, but there is a very low risk for some ice accretion across the higher terrain through Thursday night.
1) Late Tonight through Thursday afternoon.
What/When/Where:
- Precipitation starts as snow across western areas by around 1 AM, reaching the east coast by 4 AM Thursday morning. The snow will then mix with sleet and freezing rain across S coastal areas by 4 to 5 AM, which will lift northward during the morning commute.
- The wintry mix should change to rain from NE Connecticut to Rhode Island and up to the Route 128 beltway by late Thursday morning. Sleet and freezing rain will linger into early afternoon across parts of interior MA & N central CT before changing to rain by late afternoon across the higher terrain.
- Rain will linger into Thursday evening.
Potential Snow/Ice Accumulations:
- Snow and sleet accumulations from a coating to 3 inches are expected. The best chance of seeing an inch or two of snow and sleet will be north of the Massachusetts Turnpike.
- Ice accretion on the order of a few hundredths to one tenth of an inch are expected for much of southern New England
Impacts/Uncertainty:
- High confidence continues that the wintry mix will occur during the Thursday morning rush hour, despite relatively light amounts of snow and ice.
- The biggest uncertainty is whether or not we initially see a few inches of snow in northern MA or mainly just sleet and freezing rain. Either way, the Thursday morning rush hour will be impacted.
- Confident that most of the region will be above freezing by late Thursday afternoon, except the highest terrain of the Berkshires and northern Worcester Hills which should change to rain Thursday evening.
2) Thursday night and Friday Event:
Potential Impacts / Uncertainty:
- This stronger storm will bring an area of heavy rain across the region, with rain amounts up to 1.5 to 2.5 inches. This may result in some street and poor drainage flooding, with the best chance occurring across northeast Connecticut, Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts where the highest amounts will fall late Thursday night to midday Friday.
- Temperatures should rain above freezing across the interior Thursday night and Friday morning, so no additional ice accretion is expected.
- Rain may change to snow Friday afternoon and early evening with a few inches of accumulation possible. Highest risk for light snow accumulations will be across northern Massachusetts.
Attached please find the latest forecasted snow and ice amounts through Thursday afternoon.