It is January, After All

The mercury is a-droppin' and the wind is a-blowin'! Welcome to Winter 2015.

As of 3:30 today (Monday), the temperature has dropped 30 degrees since yesterday's high of 47. As the temp bottoms out around 11 degrees (above zero) tonight, the wind will start to dissipate. And we still have the coldest weather ahead of us for Wednesday night into Thursday, perhaps the coldest in these parts since 2004.

The blustery and snowy weather we saw today will be repeated throughout the week. We have a chance of a ground-covering Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday. There will not be enough snow to merit delays, but we could see a half inch on the ground. A few more snow showers could be flying around on Friday. There is some minor talk about an end of the weekend storm, but we're not confident that it will develop. But there's always hope.

We are now looking at the possibilities for cold delays Thursday. The temperature will be well below zero (between -5 and -10), and the wind will be very strong. It will be unsafe to have exposed skin if you are waiting at a bus stop Thursday morning. Schools with many walkers will want to consider delaying the start of the day by an hour or two to let the temperature rise and the winds to ease up. Still, we will only see a high of 15 or so on Thursday.

Stay warm and stay alert about delays on Thursday!

Winter Storm Upgrade for Northern Berkshire

Things are brightening on the snow front. The National Weather Service has graciously decided to upgrade the Winter Weather Advisory to a Winter Storm Warning for Northern Berkshire County. South Berkshire still has a WWA.

The biggest concern for us is the time frame and how quickly the storm will shift from snow to ice. Right now we think the snow will start around 4 PM. It will likely come down at a moderate to heavy rate from 5 to 10 PM. After that period, we'll see the snow switch to mixed precip for a few hours and then all rain by (at the latest) sunrise on Sunday. Unfortunately, the last night of vacation will not be a great night to head out on the town for a movie or bite to eat.

The county will see around 3 inches from this storm, with higher amounts in the north and hill towns. We're hoping that the rain will not completely eliminate the snow because it's about time it looks like winter out there.

Thanks to Channel 6 for this image. We think it's slightly low; we expect the nose of the 4-6" band to push further south.

What will definitely feel like winter, though, is the cold air expected to move in after Sunday's warm-up. We will see our first subzero temps of the season on Thursday morning. It won't be so cold to give us a few cold delays, but it will be close.

Get out the shovel and the extra heavy parka--it's going to be a lively weather week!

1st WWA of 2015

Old Man Winter has wasted little time getting 2015 off on the right foot. The NWS has announced a Winter Weather Advisory for the Berkshires starting at 4 PM Saturday. 

The WWA only lasts through 11 PM so this will be a quick hitter. It's likely we'll see 2 or 3 inches from this weekend low pressure system. 

Drive safely tomorrow afternoon and night. It will be slick out there!