WeatherSmart: Could it (finally) snow again on Friday night?

Over the last six weeks, Boston’s picked up about a fingernail’s worth of snow. That might change — at least a bit — on Friday night.

A coastal low will push well south of New England on Friday and Friday night, bringing with it the possibility for rain changing to snow that night into Saturday morning. While overall accumulations across the area look light, it could be enough to lead to a few icy spots on area roads on Saturday morning, and it could also lead to Boston’s first accumulating snowfall in nearly a month.

Because the coastal low will pass well south of Boston, it’ll allow colder air to filter in from the north, bringing with it a chance for a quick flip from rain to snow on Friday night. Computer models were in relatively strong agreement about a dusting to perhaps an inch of snow from this system, with the colder Worcester hills holding the highest chances for seeing accumulations.

The primary time window looks to be after dark on Friday and into the early Saturday morning hours. Any snow should be wrapped up by mid-morning on Saturday.

What’s more certain, though, is that you’ll need those winter jackets for the start of the weekend. Temperatures will drop down from this week’s balmy 50s and 60s down into the 30s for highs on Saturday. Winds could gust in the 20-25 mph range following the front, making it feel even colder on Saturday in particular.

Since Jan. 18, Boston has only seen 0.5 inches of snow, far below the average for winter’s traditional peak season. Boston has only seen 15.1 inches of snow so far this season, less than half of the city’s typical season-to-date snowfall. Boston’s last accumulating snowfall came all the way back on February 13th, when a whopping 0.2 inches of snow fell.

After any early snow and Saturday’s chill, temperatures will quickly rebound back into the 50s and 60s by Monday, resuming Boston’s unusually mild start to March. Boston’s first three days of March were four degrees above seasonable levels, and next week looks even warmer. Temperatures will soar well into the 60s by Monday and Tuesday, around 20 degrees above average for the second week of March.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2TFOStY