Ice, Ice, Baby

In the words of US poet Robert Van Winkle, "All right, stop, collaborate and listen/Ice is back with my brand new invention."

The latest word is "ice" and it's coming to a town near you. The coastal lows that we so desperately wanted do not look like they are going to be forming in a way that benefits us (at least not in the beginning of the week, but we'll get to that nice piece of news shortly). We're sorry about that, but it doesn't make the week ahead any less exciting.

There are still four waves of precipitation that we've got our eye on, two of which could involve icing scenarios.

Sunday -- Still going with our snow in the morning, a changeover to a mix around 11 am and then rain in the afternoon. Light precip overall--maybe a coating of snow.

Sunday Night -- Possible ice accumulation of a tenth or two tenth of an inch for the Northern Berkshires only. Schools below Lanesboro will see rain or drizzle. We're not very optimistic icing conditions will be so unmanageable that road crews can't stay on top of it. Expect a full day of school.

Monday Night into Tuesday -- Another round of sleet and freezing rain is possible, this time for all of the Berkshires. At the moment, this wave of precipitation looks to be moderate and delays for many schools are a possibility, albeit a low one at this point. Sleet and freezing rain in the overnight hours would change to rain and then possibly back to snow showers by Tuesday night. Again, not a ton of precipitation associated with this wave, but the morning commute on Monday could involve ice.

Thursday Night into Friday -- "Moderate to heavy snowfall" is a phrase the folks at NOAA are using right now to describe the storm for the end of the week. The long-awaited coastal low could develop. What better way to start a vacation than with an extra day of vacation? Much more to come on this one.

It will be a crazy week, but when isn't the week before Christmas not crazy? Right now our best prediction is no issues Monday, slight chance of a delay Tuesday, and then fasten-your-seatbelts-for-some- excitement for Friday.