Old Man Winter Ain't Dead Yet

Happy Friday, Flake Freaks. Boy, do we have some good news for you.

It's going to snow tonight. And what was initially thought only to be a dusting will now be several inches on the ground by the time it stops tomorrow morning. Snow starts later tonight. North County should get 2-3 inches and South County could get up to 5 inches. Not a bad way to start the weekend. The rest of the day will be seasonable with temps in the mid 30s.

The Saturday appetizer will then give way to the main course Monday night into Tuesday. The exact track of the storm is uncertain, but the storm should pass through southern New England somewhere and then off the northern coast of Massachusetts. A more easterly track over Rhode Island and the Cape will keep colder air in place longer and allow for more snow. If the storm tracks through Connecticut, then a period of rain could sneak up into the Berkshires and keep snow totals down.

The reason there is optimism with this storm is the consistency between the runs of the models at this juncture. The three main models that meteorologists consult--the Euro, the North American, and the Canadian--all are showing 15+ inches for the Berkshires. The Canadian is showing 30" for Sheffield and Great Barrington (!).

Canadian (as of Tuesday midnight)

European

North American

Will we see two feet of snow in the Berkshires by Wednesday? Unlikely. But even if this storm gives us half of what is expected, most locations will get 6-8 inches of snow, which is more than enough to warrant full snow days for Tuesday.

The worst case scenario is a more westerly storm track with rain creeping in, leading to lower elevation towns getting a slushy snow rain mix. That could be enough to cancel school but it will be a close call.

The best case scenario is an absolute thumping starting Monday night and lasting all the way through the wee hours of  Wednesday giving us two full days off.

Right now the GSD Staff consensus is a full snow day on Tuesday with several districts needing an additional two-hour delay on Wednesday to clean up. But we will likely update this projection once we get a better read on the track of the storm.

Enjoy your Saturday snow; our next update will take place Saturday afternoon.