Sunday, March 10, 2024

Winter Weather Advisory For Sunday Night & Monday (March 10-11)

We're skeptical, but many in Berkshire County could wake up to 2-4 inches of snow Monday morning, with higher amounts in the western part of the county.

NWS-Albany has announced a Winter Weather Advisory for this evening through noon on Monday. In terms of delays/snow day chances, the expected timing of the snowfall is very good.

After all the rain last night, phase two of the storm will kick in this afternoon (Sunday). Overnight we will see something called "upslope snow" as the low pressure system moves into the Berkshires from the Great Lakes. Usually we talk about high amounts for the eastern parts of the county with storms, but this situation could yield higher amounts of snow for western Berkshire County.

If the models and forecasting prove to be accurate--and we know how that typically goes--we will definitely see delays tomorrow, with the most likely candidates in the northern half of the county. But again, we're skeptical.

The lesser known HRRR (High-Resolution Rapid Refresh) model. Meteorologists like to focus on this model once a storm is within 24 hours of impacting an area.

We're going to bump up the Confidence Meter slightly just in the offhand chance that the models and meteorologists are mostly right this time.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Delays Possible For Monday, March 11

Happy weekend, Flake Followers!

An historically lame winter is coming to a close with only a few more opportunities to report on the chance for snow. But one of those chances is upon us tonight and Sunday night.

The snow this weekend--if it occurs--will come in two waves. And both of those waves will impact higher terrain areas first then the valleys.

To our north we are seeing Winter Storm Warnings in effect tonight for the southern Adirondacks and the southern Green Mountains. Winter weather advisories are in effect for surrounding areas but not yet for northern Berkshire County. Those go into effect this evening (Saturday).

Old Man Winter (23-24 edition) still has a pulse but it's feint.

Meteorologists are forecasting snow for elevations above 1500' for Saturday evening and Sunday. High elevation locales in northern Berkshire County could get up to 5". Most of us in the Berkshires will initially see rain with some wet snow mixed in.

As the first line of precipitation moves in Saturday night and early Sunday, we are expecting to see snow develop on the back end as the storm departs and the temps drop and winds pick up. This back-end-of-the-storm snow should come down after midnight on Sunday. Heavy bands of snow are possible, so that means roads could be messy Monday morning.

This is a low probability situation, but there is a chance some schools will see delays to start the week.

The bulk of our staff are traveling again this weekend, but we'll have time to update early morning Sunday or, at the latest, Sunday night.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

High Winds & Dropping Temperature

We hope everyone who was off last week had a restful and rejuvenating week.

The weather has turned downright spring-like, but we are in for a big change in the next 48 hours. Temps will still be unseasonably warm on Wednesday despite rain moving into our area this evening. Rain will come down heavy at times, but the big newsmaker for this storm will be the wind. We have a High Wind Watch in effect with gusts expected to get into the 50 MPH range.

It's possible that we could see delays on Thursday due to power outages and/or slick roads. As the rain comes to end Wednesday night, temps will plummet and we could see a brief period of snow. The temperature will drop over 30 degrees in 12 hours. At the time of the morning commute, temps will be in the low 20s and the wind will be howling.

Click bait alert, as this map is misleading. This is the "high end" potential for snow (1 in 10 chance) according to NWS Albany. If this happens, delays are definite and some schools would go with snow days.

Our infrastructure is fairly sturdy in this part of the country, so delays due to power outages are not likely but possible. And a few cautious Superintendents may decide to delay the start of school if snow, black ice and/or icy roads due to a flash freeze become an issue.

With temps back up into the 40s on Friday (and higher for the weekend), we do not currently see any chances for snow days. But there's still some winter left and we're not closing shop any time soon.