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WBZ Weather Team
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Terry Eliasen
@terrywbz


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Contact Terry Eliasen
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An active weather pattern emerging…

The WBZ Weather Team is continuing the NEXT Weather Alert through Saturday morning for another round of rainfall.

It is time to pay the piper.  After the driest 90 day stretch in our history, the pattern has officially changed.

Round one brought .5″-1.5″ of rainfall to our area, round two is now on the way.

TIMELINE:

Most of the afternoon will remain dry on Friday but rain will rotate in from the south and east after dark.

The rain starts to pick up between 4p-8p, especially in eastern MA.

Rain will continue at varying intensity overnight and into Saturday morning.

One final area of rain will rotate from north to south during Saturday morning and midday.

This will likely bring rain to all of central and eastern MA.

We will start to dry out later Saturday afternoon and evening.

This second round of rain could bring another .5″-1.0″ across eastern MA, less the farther west you travel.

In addition, some colder air will start to filter in and there will be some wet snow at times in the higher elevations of the Berkshires and the Green and White Mountains.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few snow showers in the Worcester Hills Friday night or early Saturday.

Once the rain (and snow) taper off on Saturday, the wind will take over.

We are forecasting northwesterly gusts between 25-45mph across all of southern New England Saturday evening through the day on Sunday.

It will be a very blustery end to the Weekend.

Wouldn’t you know it.  After the driest 90 day stretch in recorded history, the weather pattern is taking a major right turn just in time for the busiest travel week of the year.

We “broke the ice” with a drought “denter” to finish this week.  Many areas received more than an inch of rainfall Thursday and Thursday night and round two is on the way Friday night into Saturday.

I hope you didn’t wait until this Weekend to rake the leaves!

As the rain tapers later on Saturday, the winds will begin to howl.  

Expect gusts between 25-45mph all day Sunday.

Now for the all-important holiday week forecast!

Let’s break down next week, day by day…

MONDAY:

Locally…the pick of the week (naturally).  The winds slacken off and we start the week with a mainly sunny, seasonal day.

Highs near or slightly over 50 degrees.

Nationally…A few light rain showers through the Ohio Valley and upper Midwest.  

Some snow in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The big storm for the week comes ashore along the West Coast with some areas of heavy rain from Washington to California and some snow in the Mountains.

TUESDAY:

Locally…A rainy day in the Northeast.  Periods of rain showers throughout the day, mainly light to moderate.

While there is a rain/shower threat for just about the entire East Coast, this is not expected to be a highly impactful system.

The highest rainfall totals will be up in northern New England (perhaps up to an inch), with a half inch or less in southern New England.

Temperatures on Tuesday will be in the 50s in our area.

Nationally…It will be quite windy in the Upper Midwest (behind the area of rain).

The main storm will be traveling through the Rockies bringing some rain and snow showers out that way.

WEDNESDAY:

Locally…A gusty day on the backside of Tuesday’s storm.  Expect partly sunny skies with highs in the 40s in southern New England.

Winds could gust over 40mph at times.

Nationally…The main event will now have moved into the central part of the Country.  It will be in the midst of getting its act together as it digs southward into northern Texas.

Expect some rain showers in the southern Plains and some accumulating snowfall in parts of Wyoming and Colorado.

THURSDAY:

Locally…A chilly day, much less windy than Wednesday.  Some sun early with thickening clouds throughout the day.  We could see some light precipitation late in the day, especially in southern-most areas.

Highs in the low 40s.

Nationally…The big storm continues to strengthen and grow larger in size and impact.

Rain is expected across much of the South, Ohio Valley and Mid Atlantic States.

Some light snow may break out late in the day on the northern fringes.

FRIDAY:

This is the day to watch next week in the Northeast and the most likely timeframe for the arrival of the main storm system in our area.

It is simply too early as of this writing to give a detailed forecast.  Right now, we are in the “mid-range” which is the timeframe when we are mostly monitoring trends in the models and working on different scenarios.

The scenarios range from another rainstorm (with snow in the higher elevations)…

To a significant coastal storm for southern New England (with accumulating snowfall closer to home)…

To a much flatter wave and southern storm track which would result in a fringe or miss.

All we can say for now is that the models are consistently showing a sizeable storm in our vicinity and the odds do favor some precipitation late next week.

Obviously, as we get closer we will hone in on all the details.

As always, we will keep you posted every step of the way!  Stay with WBZ-TV, CBSBoston.com and CBS News Boston for the very latest.



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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