Thursday, January 4, 2024

Weekend Storm (Jan. 6/7) -- Winter Storm Watch

On Thursday afternoon, National Weather Service (NWS) Albany issued a Winter Storm Watch for the Berkshires. With the flipping-and-flopping American model finally getting in sync with the European model, confidence is now much higher for a heavy snow event starting Saturday night.

The current forecast is as follows:

Not so bad, considering just yesterday we were seeing predictions in the 3-6" range.

For the GSD Staff to be really certain about a storm, we like to look at the range of possibilities for a storm. Currently, most meteorologists are showing a minimum of 5" for the Berkshires with a maximum of 14-17"(!). Even though this storm is showing a high minimum and a very high maximum, we don't like the wide variability. This means the storm could still disappoint. We'd prefer to see a narrower band between the low and high possibilities, which would indicate more consistent runs of the models. But, let's not forget--we're talking about the weather here.

Despite some hesitation on the part of the GSD Staff, we think it's a good idea for you to find those taller snow boots and check the oil in the ol' snowblower. Expect a 6-9" event that starts (according to NWS Boston) around 7 PM on Saturday. If we are to end up on the higher end of the prediction, snow might start a few hours earlier. Snow will taper in the afternoon on Sunday, with some wrap-around snows possible all the way into early evening. Unless we're in the 15-18" range, we do not expect any delays for Monday.

We'll refine the snow prediction as more info comes in tomorrow. Get ready for a snowy Sunday!

 

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