Massachusetts on snow watch: Coastal storm could bring snow, rain, ice; ‘Everything is on the table’
Local forecasters will again be on snow watch ahead of the weekend with another coastal storm possibly on the way.
A coastal storm could bring snow, rain, or ice from Sunday into Monday, according to the National Weather Service’s Boston office.
One forecast model shows up to a 50% chance for 6-plus inches of snow in the interior parts of Massachusetts, with lower probabilities along the coast.
“There’s potential that a storm will bring snow or rain or a mix of both,” Bryce Williams, meteorologist at the NWS Boston office, told the Herald on Wednesday.
“Everything is on the table at this point,” he added. “But that will be our next chance for snow, in the Sunday into Monday timeframe.”
A coastal low-pressure system is expected to develop off the mid-Atlantic coast over the weekend.
There’s still a large degree of uncertainty on the track and intensity of the system, as it passes south of New England — which will impact timing, the type of precipitation, and amounts.
“All these details still need to be ironed out but there is potential for accumulating snow for SNE during the Sun to Sun night timeframe, possible lingering into Mon.,” the National Weather Service’s forecast discussion reads.
Precipitation likely starts as rain for most, except for across interior northern Massachusetts where snow would be expected. Colder air will eventually work into the region with rain changing to snow, even along the coast.
“ECMWF ensemble suite is most aggressive with moderate probs (30-50%) of 6+ inches of snow focused in the interior with lower probs along the coast,” the NWS forecast discussion reads. “GEFS and GEPS ensembles not as bullish with just low to moderate probs (20-50%) of 3+ inches of snow. Still lots to work out in the coming days.”
Related Articles
Woman killed by snowplow in Boston’s South End
Boston to finish out ‘140 hours below freezing,’ return to more moderate temperatures
Massachusetts snow forecast: Another round of light snow before ‘downright frigid’ arctic temps
Massachusetts meteorologists watching coastal snow storm after a few inches of snow; below zero wind chills on the way
Parts of Massachusetts could see 6 inches of snow before another possible coastal storm
After 1 to 2 inches of snow fell across the region from Tuesday night into Wednesday, an extended period of wet and unsettled weather from Thursday into Friday will bring up to 1.5 inches of rainfall.
There will be a “Flood Watch” for Rhode Island, and there could also be isolated instances of urban and poor drainage flooding in southeastern Massachusetts.
The NWS forecast discussion adds, “To be clear: this period of rain and potential river flooding will NOT be anything like what took place earlier in January.”