Snow Totals Are Up

Good evening, and welcome to GSD for more pre-storm action. Every run of the models today has appeared to improve our situation ever so slightly. The Winter Weather Advisory is still in place, and the consensus from the region's experts is that the Berkshires is solidly in a 4-6 inch zone, with some places--high elevation towns in North County--possibly seeing 8 inches.

NWS Boston

There's a slight chance we could see NWS Albany go with the Winter Storm Warning later tonight, but we're not holding our breath. If that happens, then Superintendents might feel more comfortable calling school off for Tuesday.

We've seen no change to the expected start to the storm. South County might see the earliest flakes between 2 and 3 AM, and the snow line will gradually lift northward. It should be snowing throughout Berkshire County by 4 AM. With cold air firmly in place, the snow won't have trouble sticking to the roads at all and should start to accumulate fairly quickly.

WNYT Albany (Channel 13)

The bulk of the snow is expected to fall between 4 AM and the early afternoon hours, and then we'll see lighter snow all the way to 9 PM. Whether schools are in session for a partial day or a full day or not, it's unlikely that we'll see many after school activities or games tomorrow. That you can almost assuredly can count on.

So, what does the GSD Staff think? After a longer than normal go-around on this one this afternoon, we think it's a 50/50 proposition: about half the schools will see a snow day (especially South County because of their earlier start) and half will go with the full day or early release. The problem with the early release is that it could still be snowing steadily at the time of the release.

Western Mass News

As we have stated for several days, so much will come down to the relative courage of your friendly Superintendent. Given the forecast for an all-day snow event, it will be a bit of a gamble to try to squeeze in a full or half day. The risk-free decision is to pull the plug early and call it a snow day, as long as snow is falling between 5 and 6 AM.

If this were the first storm of the season, then we think there would be widespread snow days tomorrow. But because we've already used one of our Get Out Of School Free cards earlier in the month--and some schools used two--Supers may be a little reluctant to cash in on another one seeing as it is only December.

An additional graphic from WNYT Channel 13. The ride home would be rough if this forecast proves to be accurate.

Let's keep an eye on that Winter Storm Warning upgrade potential, as that may be the coaxing school chiefs need to give the students of Berkshire County a pre-holiday snow holiday.

[In the unlikely event that a district makes its decision tonight, we'll start up the list. But this will be our last extended post of the evening. If we do get the upgrade, we'll let folks know through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.]