Friday Storm Update: Wednesday Edition #2

More information is coming in about the storm on Friday and--we'll be blunt--it's not very helpful. The models are beginning to agree with each other more and more, but that agreement still doesn't give us a clear picture of what's going to happen.

What do we know:

*The storm is going to start as rain and then turn to snow
*It should start sometime on Thursday night
*It will end on Saturday morning
*We should get at least an inch of liquid precipitation

What we don't know:

*The timing of the rain-to-snow conversion

Based on the models and what all the experts are saying, we will see snow cover the roads in the Berkshires at some point on Friday. That coverage could happen as early as midday; it could happen as late as the evening rush hour. There lies the rub, and it's what is going to make the decision for Superintendents very difficult on Friday. Fortunately for them, they can safely rule out delays on Friday because of the late development of the snow.

Not bad. Getting better.

The least attractive scenario is that Superintendents hold off on any snow day or early dismissal announcements and we get by unscathed until the snow comes down in the afternoon. The best case scenario is we get upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning at some point on Thursday, the changeover to snow occurs Friday morning, and all the good boys and girls of the Berkshires enjoy a snow day.

No school for many New York friends on Friday.

Right now we think most students will have a full day, but some districts--namely Northern Berkshire school systems and Central Berkshire--will go with an early release. This is not a high confidence prediction right now, but it's something the GSD Staff hopes to build on.

We could live with this.

The last thing we should say is that the projected snow totals are edging upward ever so slightly with each run of the models. We endorse this trend and hope it continues.