Winter Storm Warning for Friday, Feb. 25

Batten down the hatches--a real winter storm is coming to the Berkshires. You will awake to snow on Friday.

Today will be a seasonably pleasant day with breaks of sun and highs around freezing. Cloud cover will be more extensive this afternoon in advance of this sizable storm.

Meteorological experts over in Albany have upgraded our Watch to a Warning. Eight to 12 inches of snow is expected, with the heaviest amounts--1 to 2 inches per hour--coming down during the morning commute. Travel between 6 AM and 11 AM will be, at the very least, difficult.

NWS Albany thinks we'll get sleet.

NWS Albany still has the Berkshires in the sleet zone. Not only will sleet bring our snow totals down some (6-7 inches), but it will also make shoveling the snow less than ideal.

The only other slight change to the forecast that we've seen is the start time of the storm. It's now looking like it will be closer to 3 AM, which means snow will still be falling during the Friday night commute. If you have weekend travel plans and are hoping to wait out the storm before you drive anywhere, the roads should be slow but passable by 6 or 7 PM on Friday.

Here are some maps for your pre-storm enjoyment:

The Weather Channel, well-known for its hyping of storms, has eastern Berkshire County in the jackpot zone (12+).

Channel 13 coming in with a solid forecast.

Solid but nothing fancy here from Channel 6 in Albany. The pink/magenta/burgundy scheme is a curious choice.

Channel 22 has not changed their map from yesterday. Three possibilities: 1) They're lazy (unlikely). 2) They're going to update later today (more likely). 3) The model runs have been so consistent there's really no need to change (true).

Pivotal Weather's blend of models. This is our pick for its accuracy potential.

Winter Storm Watch for Friday (Feb. 25)

With yet another encouraging sign that we have a moderate to heavy snowfall heading our way for Friday, the National Weather Service in Albany has issued a Winter Storm Watch for our region. The finer details are being sorted out, but the prediction right now is for 6-12" of snow starting early Friday morning.

First up, though, is blustery day with temperatures gradually dropping from the balmy mid-50s this morning (Wednesday) to mid-teens by Thursday morning. Ushering in this 40 degree change in temperature will be a robust wind. We have a Wind Advisory in the Berkshires today, so don't be surprised to see some strong gusts approaching 40 mph.

Thursday looks like a typical calm-before-the-storm day. Mostly sunny. Highs around freezing. Diminishing winds. A good day to get outside and soak up the strengthening sun.

NWS Albany

Snow should start around 1 AM, and it will be coming down heavily during the morning commute. Friday might be a good remote work day, if you have the option. Travel should be difficult for most of the day on Friday. Snow will eventually wind down around 9 PM.

Based on the information we're seeing, we at GSD think most of us in the region will get 8-10 inches of snow. It will start off as light and fluffy snow but get denser as the temps move closer to freezing in the morning and midday on Friday. And there's still a chance sleet will mix in from I-90 and southward, which would make shoveling even harder.

If Friday were a school day, we would be very confident in full snow days for every student in Berkshire County. To that end, we should see some announcements from BCC, MCLA and Williams about a delayed start, a shift to remote classes for the day, or a key staff only day. 

An encouraging map for the Berkshires from Channel 22's Chris Bouzakis.

Just a heads up that the GSD Staff is headed to Boston this weekend for its annual Agricultural Festival. (This year's theme is "Squash!", and we're very excited to see all the presenters especially after last year's festival was cancelled due to the pandemic.) So, we'll do our best to get reliable snowfall totals for you during the storm.

We'll have more about the storm tomorrow: More maps, more fine-tuning of the timing, and an update on the sleet situation.

Friday Snow Storm

We're 72 hours away from what has the potential to be our biggest snow storm of the season. We're getting increasingly excited about this storm because--and this has been a rarity this season--the two main models meteorologists like to consult are very much in agreement.

The model snow forecasts we showed you yesterday are very similar to the ones that were produced this morning at 6 AM. There is still talk of sleet getting into the mix midday Friday, but this 18-hour storm should start as snow (due to the cold air firmly in place) and end as snow.

Right now, the expectation is that this storm will take place solely on Friday. Travel Thursday and Thursday night will be fine. On Friday, snow should start between 6 and 9 AM for most folks in the Berkshires and wrap up around midnight. There's plenty of liquid with this storm, so we are expecting 6+ inches for everyone in the county, with possibly of slight less measurable snow in South County due to a period of sleet.

Model runs have been very consistent for a few days now--further proof that 6+ inches is likely.

With temps in the mid and upper 20s on Saturday (and sunny), that could be the best day of the winter to get out and ski, sled, and frolic in the snow.

And this just in for those thirsty snow day people--we're seeing some indications for another 6+ storm potentially on Thursday, March 3rd. We'll keep you posted.