WEDNESDAY:  Intervals of sun and clouds, slight chance of a few rain showers, low 40s

THURSDAY:  Brief period of snow and sleet in the early morning, changing to a light rain by late morning, coating to an inch or two of snow and sleet before the changeover, high climb to near 40 in the afternoon

FRIDAY:  Rain early, then as temperatures drop in the afternoon, a chance of some snow, perhaps with an additional light accumulation by evening…temps near 40 in the AM, dropping into the 30s and 20s in the afternoon and evening

Multi-Day Storm To Bring Snow, Sleet And Rain To New England, Impacting Several Commutes

By Terry Eliasen, Meteorologist, WBZ-TV Exec. Weather Producer

BOSTON (CBS) – It has just been one of THOSE winters.

There are some winters in New England when it seems to snow at the drop of a hat. Just about every storm we forecast ends up overachieving and you just can’t seem to keep the driveway clean of snow no matter how hard you try. And then, other winters (see 2019-2020), no matter how promising a storm might look several days in advance, things just don’t come together right. The atmospheric pieces just don’t come together and before you know it, tulips are sprouting and winter is over.

Snow lovers, we are running out of time. The persistent pattern of milder than average temperatures in the east and storms cutting too far inland to produce snowfall seems to be on a never-ending repeat cycle.

(WBZ-TV Graphic)

And here we go again. Another storm is headed our way, and while there will be *some* wintry weather to deal with, in the end this one will once again be much more wet than white.

This storm is a jumbled mess. Rather than one solid, strong area of low pressure, it is coming at us in pieces. Attempting to draw the low pressure centers and connecting fronts on a weather map looks more like a 3-year-olds doodles. Therefore, we must forecast this storm (or storms) in phases, and there will be several over the next few days, having various degrees of impact on numerous commutes. No one part will be all that overwhelming or potent, but rather more of a long-duration nuisance.

PART 1: A Wintry Start

The storm begins between 1-5 a.m. early Thursday morning. The precipitation won’t come in all that heavy, but it will arrive in various different forms, from rain to ice to snow depending on your location.  This first wave of wintry precipitation lasts through the morning commute, tapering late in the morning.

Starts as snow: North of the Mass Pike, and really more-so north of Route 2 and closer to the MA/NH border. The snow will be brief, blink and you miss it, lasting an hour or two before changing to sleet.

(WBZ-TV Graphic)

Starts as an icy mix: All areas down the Mass Pike and within 10-20 miles north and south. Likely mainly sleet (those little ice pellets), which can accumulate a bit, but not nearly as impactful as freezing rain, which is more likely down in Connecticut and in the Berkshires.

Starts (and stays) as rain: Immediate coastline from Boston through the South Shore, Cape Cod, Islands and Southern Bristol and Plymouth counties. It’s all plain rain, down the drain in this area.

(WBZ-TV Graphic)

ACCUMULATION

There may be scattered coatings of mainly sleet in the Mass Pike area, into Metro West, and up to an inch or so of snow and sleet in northern MA and southern NH.

PART 2: A Lull And Temperature Climb

After about 9 or 10 a.m. on Thursday, the first wave is moving out and the precipitation will become lighter and spotty. At the same time, temperatures begin to warm, leaving just about the entire area above freezing. There may be some isolated areas in northern Worcester County and in higher elevations in western MA, where temperatures stay just cold enough for some light freezing drizzle during the day on Thursday. Otherwise it is light and scattered rain showers and drizzle through the afternoon.

(WBZ-TV Graphic)

PART 3: Heavy Rain Makes A Close Call

Thursday evening another wave of precipitation will approach from the south and attempt to push onshore with some heavier bands of rain. Best chance of getting into a steadier/heavier rain Thursday night will be areas south of the Mass Pike.

Some very heavy rain bands will be lurking just offshore and may scrape parts of far southeast New England with as much as 1-2″ of rain overnight. The rest of the area, (Boston north and west), will remain in the lighter/spottier rain area, again with some light freezing rain possible in the higher elevations.

PART 4: One Last Push

Friday morning will start just like Thursday ended, with heavier rain hugging the South Coast and lighter rain showers for the majority of our area. Again, with temperatures hovering near freezing around and outside of Interstate 495, there could be some spotty icy areas.

(WBZ-TV Graphic)

Then, it appears there will be one last gasp, one final low pressure area that will make its way through Southern New England. This will bring one final area of steady precipitation through the area Friday afternoon and evening, while at the same time, colder air will begin to drain in from the north.

Best chance of any significant snow accumulation (more than an inch or so) would be in central and northern New England (ski areas). However, there could be some scattered coatings to an inch of snow north and west of I-495 Friday evening.

(WBZ-TV Graphic)

So that’s a lot to digest. And with so much going on and in so many pieces, things are bound to change to one degree or another (no pun intended). Please stay tuned to WBZ-TV, CBSBoston.com and CBSN Boston for frequent updates.

Follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ

Click here for Westford snow storm data and past totals or select “Winter Snowfall“ under “Pages” on the left hand side.

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