If you’ve been holding out on turning the heat on, you might want to give in tonight.
We have had some chilly nights over the course of the last week or so, dropping into the low 40s in Boston and into the 30s in many of the suburbs. Tonight, we go to the next level.
For the first time this season, many of us will wake up to a frosty landscape Thursday morning. In fact, we expect some of the colder locations to skip right past the frost and actually have their first freeze. Time to find the windshield scraper!
Temperatures will bottom out just before dawn on Thursday morning. While downtown Boston and Worcester will likely stay well above freezing, the majority of the suburbs will fall to between 28-34 degrees.
Despite the cold forecast, the National Weather Service will NOT be issuing any frost or freeze warnings in southern New England.
This is because the growing season, by their estimation, is already deemed over. Once we get past October 11 in eastern MA and October 1 in central MA, it is assumed that folks are no longer actively growing or protecting outdoor plants.
Take a look at this map which shows the average first freeze dates in the fall. Central MA is lagging about 2 weeks behind while most of Metro West is about a week behind.
This is nothing new. Fall temperatures have been steadily warming over the last few decades, meaning a longer growing season as well as a longer allergy season.
If you do have some plants that you want to protect, you should absolutely cover them or bring them inside tonight. In fact, whatever survives tonight will likely make it for another week or two given the mild forecast ahead! Keep an eye on the low temperature forecast for Friday and Saturday, otherwise we are in for a very mild stretch with several days well into the 70s through most of next week!
Click here for Westford snow storm data and past totals or select “Winter Snowfall“ under “Pages” on the left hand side.
For more up to date forecast information follow me on Twitter (@terrywbz) or follow the WBZ weather team on Facebook, search WBZWeather
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