Another stormy weekend is on tap, but it shouldn’t be anywhere near as bad as last weekend was.
High pressure will remain in control of the region into Friday, with generally dry weather and moderating temperatures. However, low pressure will be heading towards the Great Lakes, sending cloudcover our way, though Friday will still be a decent day around here, by mid-December standards at least.
By Saturday, that low will be moving across the Midwest, resulting in a few things happening around here. Some rain will move in late in the day and at night, likely ending Sunday morning. While it’s not expected to be heavy, it will make for a wet Saturday night and Sunday morning. The storm will also send a warm front toward the region, but this is where things get tricky, because we’ll also have a strong high pressure area in southeastern Canada. That high will send cooler air down into the region – meteorologists refer to this as “cold air damming”, as both the mountains to the west and the warm front to the south act as a dam to prevent the cold air from advancing. That warm front likely doesn’t get much past the Mass Pike Saturday night, which keeps areas north of the Pike on the cool side. Meanwhile, a wave of low pressure will ride along that front, keeping the cold air locked in from southern New Hampshire into the Merrimack Valley. Temperatures will likely be in the middle to upper 30s in these areas, but if they are just a few degrees cooler, then we may have to worry about the rain becoming freezing rain. If you’ve got plans in these areas Saturday night, keep an eye on the conditions before you head out.
By Sunday, the main low pressure area moves into southeastern Canada, dragging a frontal system across the region. As winds shift into the west, it will scour the cold air out, bringing milder air in. For areas south of the Mass Pike, where the warm air will already be in place, temperatures will actually cool off a bit behind the front on Sunday. High pressure returns on Monday with cooler air drier conditions.
Finally, we’ll just address this now, before the hype gets out of control. Yes, there are some models that show the potential for a snowstorm towards the middle to latter half of next week. However, not all of the models show that. Plus, most of the models have done a relatively poor job forecast beyond about 3-4 days out for quite a while now. So yes, there is the “potential” for something next week. There’s also the “potential” that the Patriots will win the Super Bowl again this season. That’s all it is for now – potential. We’ll address it in a bit more detail in out Weekly Outlook Monday morning, if the potential is still there.
Thursday night: Clear to partly cloudy. Low 21-28.
Friday: Sunshine dimmed by afternoon high clouds. High 45-52.
Friday night: Thickening clouds. Low 27-34 north of the Mass Pike, 35-42 south of the Pike.
Saturday: Cloudy with showers developing by late afternoon. High 41-48 north of the Mass Pike, 49-56 south of the Pike.
Saturday night: Scattered showers, possibly some freezing rain across parts of southern New Hampshire. Low 32-39 north of the Mass Pike, 40-47 south of the Pike.
Sunday: Any lingering showers end in the morning, some afternoon sunny breaks are possible. High 47-54.
Sunday night: Partly cloudy. Low 30-37.
Monday: Partly sunny. High 37-44.
Storm HQ 