Big Weather Changes

The forward progress of Spring will be halted in its tracks today as a powerful storm sweeps into the northeast this evening.

Unfortunately, most of us will see heavy rain from this event. But if you live in the hill towns or southern Vermont, you have a shot at a delay or cancellation. Confidence is very low, however, that this storm will shorten the school day for folks in our immediate region. If anything, the heavy wind that will pick up this evening has a better chance of knocking out power and giving a district in North County a delay or early release. We do have a Wind Advisory in place for tonight, with 40 mph gusts possible by morning.

Not likely to shorten the day on Thursday.

If it snows at all in Berkshire County, it will happen Thursday in the morning as the cold air gets sucked in from the north, turning the rain into snow. Hill towns could see a quick blast of a few inches of snow. Southern Vermont towns in higher elevation spots could see up to 6". Parts of northern New York, New Hampshire, and Maine could end up with a foot of snow.

As the storm moves off the Atlantic coast, we will see steadily declining temperatures. Winter will be back this weekend with highs in the 20s and lows in the low teens. The weekend should be dry except for a stray flake or two on Friday.

Before you give up all hope, we have seen a few signs for a storm in the second week of March. We'll continue to monitor that situation as we learn more about.

Expect Snow on Tuesday

Happy President's Day (or Washington's Birthday if you work for the federal government)!

We picked up another 1/2 inch of snow early Sunday morning, and the run of nuisance storms continues on Tuesday. We are expecting at least an inch for all of Berkshire County, with some more northerly locations potentially seeing 3". This storm will NOT impact the morning commute--the snow should start around 11 AM--but the evening ride home from work could be messy as forecasters are expecting a changeover to sleet then all rain throughout the afternoon and early evening.

Nuisance snow.

As for the rest of the week, it will be a quiet one. We will see a return to normal winter temperatures on Thursday, with highs in the low 20s. Unfortunately, it will not last and we'll be right back up into the 40s for the weekend.

We are still keeping an eye on a more sizable storm for the week of the 24th, but the current outlook is for a big rain event. Winter is definitely on its proverbial downslope. Yes, March is known to provide excitement, but all the long-range models are showing above average temperatures for that month.

Thursday Storm Recap

Today's storm pretty much delivered. Most schools had at least a delay--Lee, Southern Berkshire and Berkshire Hills were notable exceptions--and we had a few cancellations to the north. We should have been more aggressive with our Confidence Meter, but the warm temperatures were holding us back.

It was a little surprising to see BCC and MCLA opt for the delay, but maybe they fell prey to the Once-Bitten-Twice-Shy Theorem as today's driving conditions in Berkshire County were generally much better than Monday's.

NWS Snow Reports for today's storm. They are consistent with the delays and snow days we say today.

With vacation week coming up, most of our staff will be off next week--in fact, a few have bolted already for warmer climes--but the diehards will be around the office and will report on any winter weather developments for those who do not follow the public school vacation schedule.

So what's next? First, it will be frigid tomorrow and tomorrow night. The temperature is slowly dropping as we speak. We'll see highs in the teens Friday, and then the thermometer will bottom out early Saturday morning in the negative single digits. We fear we've forgotten what real winter cold feels like, so bundle up and cover those extremities, including the tip of the nose. Fortunately, temps will moderate Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

As for precipitation, we could see some more slushiness on Tuesday morning but it will be minor. The rest of the week will be mild and dry.

Recently, most forecasters have been preparing to read Old Man Winter his final rites, but suddenly a few signals have popped up via the models to suggest the possibility of a New England storm in late February. The Old Man, it appears, might not be dead yet. Those of us still scuffling around in the GSD Office sure ain't holding our collective breath, but certainly we'll keep an eye on that time period.

With the reduction in staff, we'll be operating on a need-to-know basis for the next 10 days. Check in with our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for any quick updates.