Buckle Up for Some Wild Weather over Next 48 Hours
Its that time of year as atmospheric extremes and transitions ebb and flow. Old man winter put on a show on its own gridiron giving the Super Bowl a run for its money, at least in Patriots country. The Tri-State area as well as Southern New England received a general 2-4″ with some outliers. Here are some high end totals per state. NJ (5″ in Hardwick, 4.6″ in Highland Lakes and 4.1″ in Freehold), LI (Smithtown 5.8″, 4.8″ in Syosset), CT (8″ in Moosup, 7″ in New London), southeast Mass, the snow capital of the NE (I gave a range of 4-6″ for this area but it was more on the order of 6-9″: 9.6″ in Westborough, 9.5″ in Kingston, 9″ in Sutton, a TD away from Stafford St, 8.5″ in Stoughton). You can never discount the influence of the warm sea-surface temps. Rhode Island rode the snow road with accumulations of nearly 11″ (Greenville 10.8″, Cranston 10.5″, West Warwick 9.6″).
On to our next event. Buckle up and hold on to your hats, and be sure to have both your spring and winter garb close by today and tomorrow. Temperatures ride the mercury rollercoaster on the arrival of a strong cold front over the next 2 days. Ahead of the front, today will be very windy and warm. Record daily highs may challenged today (see above). Winds will be out of the SSW blowing a warm spring like airmass with widespread 50s across the region (a few 60s are possible across the Delmarva to DC, NJ, inland sections of MA and NH, and 70s in the Carolinas)! Before you head to bed tonight, move your cars away from trees, check your generators if you have, and charge your electronics. If you’re a light sleeper, its going to be long night for you.
SW winds really start cranking tonight into Friday morning. Wind gusts peak overnight up to 65mph along coastal sections from Cape Hatteras to Cape May, up to Camp Hero and Cape Cod, on up to Cape Elizabeth. A High Wind Warning is in effect for Suffolk County, SE CT, and a High Wind Warning for SE MA counties of Southern Bristol, Southern Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket, along with Rhode Island counties of Eastern Kent, Bristol, Washington, Newport and Block Island from 11pm tonight to 9am Friday.
While not as severe, inland sections for the entire Northeast are under a Wind Advisory with gusts of 30-50mph, strong enough to take down tree branches and weakened trees creating some power outages. On top of all that, also overnight will be a line of heavy downpours and can’t rule out some boomers and bolts.
While settling off its peak, SW winds will still be whipping Friday morning with out the door temps still in the 50s. But be sure to bring your winter gear to school/work as winds quickly rotate out of the NW by mid morning. Before lunch time the mercury dives into the 30s across the Northeast and into the 20s after sundown, what a ride! Temps drop below normal over the weekend with a chance accumulating snow squalls in the ski country and some festive flakes in southern New England. For the week ahead, the mercury rollercoaster ride continues. The first half brings us another taste of spring with temps in the 50s on President’s Day, climbing into the 60s Tuesday (next chance for wet weather) and Wednesday. Our next cold front slides through the end of next week with a chance mix precip Friday and Sunday/Monday period, ending February. Can you say, in like a lion?? I’d pay attention to the 2 weeks leading up to the Ides of March. As previously emphasized in my last post, winter isn’t over. March madness is lurking with model mayhem, bracket busters and potential blockbusters. Stay tuned for all the details. Otherwise, be safe, check on your neighbors Friday morning, and good luck catching some shuteye Thursday night because weather never sleeps!