BOSTON (CBS) - Did you wake up this morning and for a brief second think it was all just a bad dream? Perhaps you glanced outside and saw bare ground and for just a moment considered going about your day as you would any other normal day?

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Maybe you even got so far as to start the coffee and flip on the TV (hopefully to WBZ) and that was just about when reality hit home.  Scrolling on the screen you saw hundreds upon hundreds of school closings, a near unprecedented number before a flake had even fallen in many areas. You heard Melissa Mack using words like “historic” and “epic” and you had to do a double take when the map of 24-to-30 inches flashed on the screen.

It is happening.

All systems are go.

Your Questions: Ask The Weather Team

This one ain’t going out to sea.  The rain-snow line isn’t going to miraculously charge inland. We are going to make history with this one.

Gallery: WBZ Storm Forecast Maps

The flakes started to fly in many areas before dawn Friday morning, but the actual storm, the main event, has yet to arrive.

TIMELINE

Light-to-moderate snow will blanket the area by late this morning and by lunchtime it will be snowing just about everywhere in Southern New England.

Evening

By 5 p.m. the intensity will be increasing hour-by-hour and some very heavy bands, up to an inch per hour, will be rotating from south to north. Travel will be getting tricky. I would severely recommend that you get off the roads by this evening.  A blizzard is nothing to take lightly.  The road in front of you can vanish into white within a matter of minutes and visibility can drop to near zero with nearly no warning.

Blizzard conditions will become more and more widespread after 8 p.m. Winds out of the east-northeast will gust to 50 mph or greater, whipping the heavy snow into a frenzy.  Gravity will no longer matter, the snow will be flying up, down and sideways. This will continue all night long.

Snowfall rates will increase to 2 and 3 inches per hour, perhaps even greater in the most intense snow bands.

Morning

By dawn on Saturday most locations will already be near 20 inches, but good luck measuring with a ruler.  The winds will create drifts several feet high in some spots and near bare ground in others.

The snow will continue Saturday morning, very heavy at first and then, gradually begin to relent.

By late morning, as the center of the storm finally begins to pull away, the snow bands will take a north-to-south orientation. There will be some breaks between bands where it will snow very lightly or perhaps even stop for a brief while.

Afternoon

By early afternoon, most of the snow bands will be confined to the coastline and in particular over Cape Cod where they will attempt to make up for lost time and some mixing that occurred overnight.

It will be safe to start the cleanup late afternoon with accumulation all but over with the exception of Cape Cod. No doubt, we will be cleaning up for days to come, moving snow from sidewalks and driveways into huge snow banks at street corners, backing out of your driveway will become an adventure for a while.

ACCUMULATION

When all is said and done we expect an average of 18-to-24 inches to have fallen across most of southern New England.

Over Cape Cod where snow will mix with rain at times Friday night there will be closer to 12-to-18 inches in places like Falmouth and Sandwich.

Farther east towards Chatham we expect 6-to-12 inches and over Nantucket only about 3-to-6 inches.

WINDS

Unfortunately, snow will not be the only issue with this storm.

Winds will gust to hurricane force (over 70 mph) over most of Cape Cod Friday night and Saturday morning.

Frequent gusts between 40-60 mph will batter the entire East Coast and southeastern Massachusetts.

Even locations well inland, north and west of Boston, will see gusts 20-40 mph all night and most of the day on Saturday.

COASTAL CONCERNS

This powerful onshore wind at the coastline will work to pile up the Atlantic Ocean waters along the east and northeast facing shoreline, particularly during high tide times.

The first high tide of concern will be around 10 p.m. Friday. The storm surge tonight will be on the order of 2-to-3 feet and seas just offshore will rise to 15-to-20 feet.

Overall, we expect minor to moderate coastal flooding tonight.

The Saturday morning high tide (around 10 a.m.) is our greatest concern due to the astronomical height being nearly a foot and a half higher than Friday night.

Storm surge values will again be 2-to-3 feet, but closer to the South Coast and, in particular, the north side of Cape Cod could experience a surge over 4 feet.

Seas just offshore will rise to 25-to-35 feet.  All of this will make for moderate to major coastal flooding. Many vulnerable shore roads will be completely washed out.

Beach erosion will also be a major factor, most notably in the Plum Island area, from Scituate to Plymouth and Sandwich, also the Outer Cape including Chatham and the east shore of Nantucket.

There will be some structural damage and numerous power outages from this storm. Widespread wind damage is certain along the coast and inland as well.

Clearly this is not a storm to be taken lightly.  If you have not already completed your storm preparations you should do so immediately.

Read: Preparing For The Storm

This storm will be one that you will remember, for better or worse, so my best advice, try to make this a happy memory and please stay safe.

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.

BOSTON (CBS) - Are you ready to make history?

This storm has the potential to be one of those events that you remember for a lifetime.

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20 years from now you may still be saying to a friend, “Hey where were you during the Blizzard of 2013?”

Let’s hope your answer isn’t “stuck in my car” or “stranded on the side of the road.”

Blizzards are nothing to take lightly, conditions can deteriorate rapidly and within minutes that road in front of you can turn into a complete whiteout.

Your Questions: Ask The Weather Team

Everyone should take the next 24 hours to complete preparations – fill up the gas tank in your car, have fuel on hand for a generator or snowblower.  Coastal residents in flood prone areas should board windows and check the sump pump and, of course, make sure you have batteries on hand.

Gallery: WBZ Storm Forecast Maps

A Blizzard Warning is in effect from 6 am Friday to 1 PM EST Saturday for much of Eastern and Central Massachusetts.

A Coastal Flood Warning is in effect from 8 PM Friday to noon EST Saturday.

So let’s get to the details.

TIMELINE

Midnight Tonight:

We could see the first flakes flying as early as late tonight, but the snow would be very light and primarily near the coast, just some ocean-effect flurries out ahead of the actual storm.

7 a.m. Friday:

Some light scattered snow, again not really associated directly with the storms circulation, still fairly quiet and still time to make last minute preps.

Noon Friday:

Steady snow comes ashore the South Coast and into Connecticut, winds begin to become noticeably stronger along the South Shore and South Coast.  Scattered light snow continues elsewhere.

5 p.m. Friday:

Steady snow falling in all of southern New England, an inch or two of accumulation by this time, especially from Boston-south where it has been snowing steady for the longest amount of time.   The rain-snow line sits along the extreme South Coast and snow begins to mix with rain over Cape Cod. Travel conditions quickly going downhill.

10 p.m. Friday:

We will be entering the peak hours of the storm by now.  Heavy bands of snow will be rotating south to north.  Snowfall rates of an inch per hour or greater over most of the area. The rain-snow line will now be somewhere in southern Rhode Island to the Massachusetts South Coast to Cape Cod. Winds will be screaming out of the east-northeast, gusts 25-to-50+ mph along the coastline with highest gusts to 65 mph along extreme southeastern Massachusetts and South Coast.

This is also about the time of high tide. Seas will become very rough, splash over will occur and vulnerable shore roads may be washed out. This will be a minor to moderate coastal flooding event Friday night. Pockets of blizzard conditions will exist, especially near the coastline. A widespread 4-to-8 inches on the ground by 10 p.m.

5 a.m. Saturday:

The actual center of the storm will near Nantucket and this will likely be the absolute peak of the storm for snow intensity and winds.

Snowfall rates greater than 2 inches per hour are likely with widespread blizzard conditions. Powerful east-northeast winds will gust near hurricane force (70+ mph) near the Outer Cape and over the open waters off Cape Cod Bay.  Elsewhere along the coast, wind gusts will peak 40-to-70 mph, violently whipping the snow, making it impossible to distinguish between falling and blowing snow.

Inland, winds will be strong as well with frequent gusts from 25-to-50 mph. The rain-snow line will reach its farthest northward point right about now, somewhere between Bourne and Plymouth, perhaps as far north as Providence to Taunton (briefly).

Total snowfall by 5 a.m. will range from 10-to-20 inches.

10 a.m. Saturday:

The winds begin to veer to a more northerly direction turning any rain to the south back over to snow.  The snow will now setup in bands with a more north-south orientation as the center of the storm will come even with the Outer Cape about 50-to-100 miles to the east.

Intense snowfall rates will continue within these bands with an inch or two per hour still possible.  In between snow bands there will be areas of lighter snow.

The biggest concern at this hour will be the high tide which is astronomically near a foot and a half higher than Friday night’s. There is potential for some pockets of major coastal flooding between 8 a.m. and noon on Saturday.

The key here will be wind direction.  If the winds turn a bit quicker to the north, then our coast may be spared the worst scenario.  More likely than not, the winds will continue to be northeasterly at this hour causing significant flooding. Total snow accumulation by this hour 12-to-24 inches.

3 p.m. Saturday:

As the storm slowly pulls away from the New England coastline, additional bands of moderate to heavy snow will rotate north to south across all of New England.  The bands will likely have greater distances between them and there may be several locations where it is just lightly snowing or perhaps not snowing at all. Winds will remains gusty out of the north, 20-to-40 mph+.

Most of the accumulation will be done by 3 p.m. Widespread 18-to-24 inches with pockets up to 30 inches.

8 p.m. Saturday:

Most of New England will be out of the woods by this time, just a few snow bands left rotating near the coast, and over Cape Cod.  99-percent of the accumulation is done and cleanup time begins.

The biggest wildcard with this storm at this hour is the rain-snow line.

Models disagree to some extent how far north the rain will penetrate. No doubt that Cape Cod will be raining for most of Friday night.  Some models keep the rain-snow line down there and others sneak it north up the South Shore.  This obviously will affect final snow totals quite a bit.

SNOW ACCUMULATION

The forecast hasn’t changed a whole lot in the last 24 hours.

We are still expecting a widespread 18-to-24 inches or more!

As I said Wednesday, storms with similar setups to this in the past have produced isolated amounts of 30 inches or higher and that is certainly possible with this event.

We will have our eyes on the record books for sure.

In case you are wondering, here are the top 5 Boston snow events of all time.  We have a serious shot at cracking into this list.

1. February 17-18 2003 27.5 inches (President’s Day storm)
2. February 6-7 1978 27.1 inches (Blizzard of ’78)
3. February 24-27 1969 26.3 inches (The 100-hour storm)
4. March 31-April 1 1997 25.4 inches (April Fools Storm)
5. January 22-23 2005 22.5 inches (Blizzard of 2005)

Snow amounts will taper to 12-to-18 inches from about Plymouth down to Bourne and also along the extreme South Coast in places like New Bedford.

Read: Top 10 Boston Storms

Over the Outer Cape we are expecting 6-to-12 inches with some coming at the beginning of the event and most of the accumulation happening Saturday midday-evening.

Widespread wind damage and numerous power outages are a near certainty with this event, especially near the coast.

It is very important that you stay tuned to updated forecasts.  While there will be some tweaks to the forecast track and snow amounts, unfortunately there is no chance of this storm being a miss.

Stay Tuned!

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.

THURSDAY FEB. 7 - UPDATED FORECAST

BOSTON (CBS) - The snowstorm Friday will be big, but will it be historic and rival some of the legendary storms of Boston’s past?

The short answer is it just might.

I think it is safe to say that Friday’s storm will easily be the biggest one of not only this season but last season as well.

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In fact, Boston has the chance to see as much snow in this one storm as they have seen in total from this winter and last!

Your Questions: Ask The Weather Team

Only six times in Boston’s weather history (more than 100 years) has more than 20 inches fallen in one storm. You truly need the atmosphere to set up just right for a blockbuster snow event.

Gallery: WBZ Storm Forecast Maps

It seems that all the ingredients are in place at this point.

First we have an ample supply of cold air pouring out of Canada.  Low temperatures Wednesday night will be in the single digits in many of the suburbs and highs on Thursday will only reach the mid 20′s.

Next, we have a very “juicy” storm coming from the Deep South, out of the Gulf of Mexico with plenty of moisture to work with.

And like so many other storms preceding it, as it reaches the warm current of the Gulf Stream of the Mid-Atlantic it will “bomb out” and become a very powerful nor’easter.

Finally, there is always a concern along the coastline for a mix or change to rain due to the relatively mild Atlantic Ocean.

This year, the Atlantic waters are actually much warmer than normal off the New England Coast, this being one of the main reasons why Boston has seen so little snow to this point and a spot like Worcester has had a much more “normal” winter.

However, the fact that this storm is happening in February and not December is a big deal.  The ocean is always at its coldest in February and early March because of the lag time it takes for such a large body of water to cool. Therefore we are forecasting a mainly snow event this time near the coast with just some mixing over the Cape and Islands.

TIMELINE

Light snow could begin as early as Thursday night and Friday morning. Nothing significant for Friday morning’s commute, but don’t be surprised if there is a dusting here and there.

The storm really ramps up quickly late Friday afternoon. By nightfall on Friday it will be snowing steadily everywhere and the winds will be starting to crank at the coastline, 20-to-40 mph+.

Snowfall rates will increase to an inch or two per hour overnight, likely creating blizzard conditions for many areas. In fact, the National Weather Service has already issued a blizzard watch for most of Eastern Massachusetts.

(By the way, if you are wondering what makes an official blizzard, you need falling and or blowing snow reducing visibility to less than a quarter-mile with frequent sustained or wind gusts greater than 35 mph for at least a 3-hour period).

The snow will peak from 7 p.m. Friday night through 11 a.m. on Saturday. Some of the heaviest snow bands may come early Saturday morning when snowfall rates greater than 2” per hour are possible. Snow will finally begin to taper by midday on Saturday and the cleanup can begin Saturday afternoon

The best chance of seeing a “blizzard” would be nearest to the coast, perhaps even in Boston when winds will be strongest Friday night.

The snow will continue all night into Saturday morning and likely begin to taper around midday Saturday.

ACCUMULATION

We are looking a widespread dumping of 1-to-2 feet of snow for most of southern New England.

There could be a bit less along the coastline in far southeastern Massachusetts and over the Cape and Islands due to mixing.  Eight-to-12 inches+ is expected down there.

Again, if the storm sets up just right, and that is a very distinct possibility, final snow amounts will rival that of our greatest snowstorms in Boston history, including the 27.1 inches in 1978. This is the type of storm and setup which has the potential to produce 30 inches or greater in some locations!

WINDS-COASTLINE

Winds will be strongest at the coast during the peak of the storm Friday night.  Expect gusts out of the northeast to reach 25-to-50 mph of greater. Inland, winds will be strong, 20-to-40 mph but not likely as damaging as at the coast.

The first high tide of concern occurs Friday night just before 10 p.m. There will likely be minor to moderate coastal flooding from 8 p.m.-midnight with significant splashover and beach erosion. Of greater concern is the next high tide on Saturday morning when tides are much higher astronomically speaking. Tides rise from a base height of 9.5 feet on Friday night to 10.9 feet on Saturday morning, cresting around 10 a.m. This could set the stage for some pockets of major coastal flooding between 8 a.m. and Noon on Saturday.

Thankfully, tides are not astronomically that high.  The high tide to watch is around 10 p.m. Friday.  We are expecting minor to moderate coastal flooding at that time. Seas will be very rough, well over 10 feet and some beach erosion is inevitable.

While there is still time for the forecast to change, this is not going to be a miss.

A significant snowstorm is almost certain at this point with just the finer details to be worked out.

You should begin preparations for a major, crippling snow event, unlike we have seen in several years. And of course stay tuned to updated forecasts.

Here’s some statistics to put this storm into perspective:

3.2 inches: The biggest snowstorm so far this year.

4.4 inches: The biggest snowstorm last year.

14.6 inches: January 12th, 2011 – the last time Boston had more than a foot of snow in one storm.

27.1 inches: On this date 35 years ago today – the Blizzard of 1978.

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.

Two packets of energy are at play here, one entering British Columbia, Canada and the other sliding through Northern Mexico to our south.  The key to the evolution of this storm is how these two features interact and it now looks like they will do a complete merge in our coastal waters resulting in a large Nor’easter.  At this point we are trying to pinpoint the exact track…which will ultimately dictate how much snow we see.  Today’s computer guidance paints a huge storm potential from the top of the storm to the bottom, here are all the ingredients:  Several thousands of feet in the air, the right, rear section of the jetstream will be in the perfect location to evacuate air and create a significant upward moving column of air necessary for strengthening the storm.  In the mid-levels of the atmosphere a pocket of very cold air will be slowing down creating an unstable environment leading to additional rising air and a stalling surface low.  A few thousand feet above the ground (850mb) a well-defined circulation will create intense overrunning precip (a snow-making machine) directed right at Southern New England.  Finally, a strong cold high pressure system to our north and a deepening surface low to our south that would suck in the cold air to it’s center locking the cold into most of New England for the duration of the event.

Clearly, there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle to get the perfect set-up, but right now those pieces are falling into place and a snowstorm capable of producing over a foot of snow is on the table and very possible.  This is not meant to create hype but simply to let you know what is possible.  The next 24 hours will be critical as we narrow down the details so please stay tuned.

BOSTON (CBS) - Before you accuse us of “hyping” up this storm potential on Friday, let me ask you this – would you rather not know what might happen?

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There will be no hype here, just the plain old facts as we see them right now, about 72 hours ahead of any sort of storm on Friday.

First the basic meteorology.  A large area of cold, Canadian high pressure is going to crest over New England on Thursday, supplying a significant amount of cold air, one obvious ingredient needed for a significant snowstorm.

While that is happening, two storm systems will be racing eastward across the country, one in the upper Midwest and another, more juicy storm, in the Deep South.

Originally, most weather models were keeping these two systems separate as they hit the Atlantic, not causing much of a weather story.

Now, there is mounting agreement between weather models that these two storms will come together and “phase” somewhere off the New Jersey coastline on Friday morning.

The rest of this blog will be written on the assumption that this phasing actually occurs, which is the most likely scenario at this point.

TIMELINE

Snow would begin during Friday morning, mainly light, not expecting a great deal of accumulation at the start given that it is during the day and relatively light.

The intensity of the snow would ramp up during the afternoon along with the east winds, especially along the coast, where gusts could reach 20-to-40 mph by late afternoon.

The peak of the storm would come Friday evening and night from about 5 p.m. through 1 a.m.

During this time frame snowfall rates could exceed 1 inch per hour in parts of eastern Massachusetts.

A strong east northeast wind, gusting to 50 mph or higher could create blizzard-like conditions near the coastline at times.

Thankfully, the tides are not astronomically very high, but the high tide to watch would be Friday night’s just before 10 p.m.

Driving conditions would be very hazardous during the Friday evening commute and only worsen Friday night.

ACCUMULATION

And of course the million dollar question – how much snow are we talking?

There is the POTENTIAL for well over a foot of snow in eastern Massachusetts from this storm IF everything comes together just right (which again is very possible).

Certainly a large area of at least 6-to-12 inches is possible for almost all of southern New England including the coastline.

This would be the biggest storm not only this year, but last year as well.

It would likely be the biggest storm since February 1-2 of 2011 when Boston received 10.4 inches of snow. It sure has been a while!

Now all of that being said, we still have 72 hours before this storm arrives and the phasing of two storms and two jet streams is a complex process.

No doubt there will be some changes to the forecast in the next 24-to-48 hours.

We would stress the importance of staying tuned at this point to updated forecasts and beginning preparations for a stormy Friday.

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.

A second clipper will dive down from Canada early Wednesday morning and has similar potential…some fluffy coatings will be deposited during the Wednesday morning commute.

The final clipper of the week has bigger potential on Friday.  A bundle of upper level energy associated with the clipper will swirl toward the Northeast on Thursday, at the same time a similar packet of energy associated with the southern jet stream will be sliding through the Southeastern US.  Timing is everything with this storm’s development because if the two pieces link up we could be dealing with a sizable Nor’easter.  There will only be a small window of opportunity for this to occur so chances are equal that this system remains harmless.  The next 24 hours should tell us a lot about the track and strength and ultimately how much snow.

As we look ahead into next week, the pattern will stay cold in fact highs should be no better the 35 degrees through next Friday.  There are also a couple of chances for snow but at the moment, once again, the ingredients aren’t lining up for a biggie.

Have a great weekend!

BOSTON (CBS) – A Spring storm in the middle of the Winter is causing all kinds of problems tonight from Maine to Florida.  Warm air has surged into New England out ahead of this system and temps are at lofty levels currently near 60 degrees!  The winds that are bringing in the warm air are beginning to ramp up and later tonight and early tomorrow morning could gust over 60 mph…there is a High Wind Warning in place for the entire State until 9AM Thursday morning.

That’s about the time when the potent coldfront will be sweeping offshore and ending the heavy downpours and damaging windgusts but between 3AM and 8AM very heavy rain and wind will be at their peak.  Rain amounts may exceed an inch in spots leading to some minor and temporary street flooding and the strong gusts could bring down limbs leading to power outages.  After 9AM, the wind will shift into the west…the sun will pop out and temps will begin to tumble.  The high will be set early in the morning, well into the 50s but by the end of the day temps will have fallen all the way in the 40s and 30s.

Winter will return beginning on Friday as another extended cold stretch will settle in…not as harsh as the last but highs will be right around 30 for several days.  There is also a good chance to see a period of light snow on Sunday that may leave behind an inch or two.

BOSTON (CBS) – If you just woke out of a long hibernation you might think that you overslept.

Today has the look and feel of an early spring day in New England.  The little bit of snow on the ground is getting devoured by milder air, as evidence by the dense fog everywhere.

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Temperatures are already rising into the 50′s and many towns may nick 60 before the day is done.  A quick peek at the radar shows one heck of a squall line of thunderstorms barreling through the Midwest, leading to several tornado watches and warnings from the deep South to the Ohio Valley.

This is January?

We are in for one heck of a ride in the next 24-48 hours, the classic New England-style roller coaster complete with warnings signs and all.

So here’s what you can expect:

This afternoon will be all about the warm air.  It has already made inroads along the coastline and eventually it will work to scour out every last bit of cold air in each and every valley, nook and cranny of southern New England.

It will take the longest in places like southern New Hampshire and far northern and western Massachusetts. The warm comes in at upper levels of the atmosphere first and works its way down to the surface.  This process is sped up when you introduce some winds, which help to scour out the stubborn cold spots and mix up the atmosphere.

By this evening, just about all of southern New England should be in the 50′s and many towns may make a run at 60.

It would be just the second time this winter (January 14) that most of us saw 60 on the thermometer and there is an outside shot at a record in Boston (it currently stands at 63, set back in 1914).

There will be some scattered showers this afternoon and evening and the winds will become somewhat gusty, but the main event will hold off until around dawn on Thursday morning.

Temperatures will hold nearly steady all night and high temps for Thursday will likely occur just after midnight, 50+ in the early hours of Thursday morning on the last day of January.  Incredible!

Then, around dawn, the main line of showers with some embedded thunderstorms, the same line wreaking havoc in the Midwest, will arrive.

No tornado concerns here, but this squall line of sorts will still pack a punch.

Between 6-9 a.m. on Thursday, heavy downpours will drag down some very strong winds from a few thousand feet above the ground.

Thursday morning commuters will likely experience wind gusts in the range of 25-50 mph with the potential for gusts to 60 along the South Coast and over southeastern Massachusetts.

This will be plenty strong enough to produce scattered tree damage and power outages and will certainly work to slow down the commute significantly.

Rain will taper off after 9 a.m. and the sun will make an appearance around lunchtime.

Winds will remain gusty through Thursday afternoon but not nearly as strong and damaging as the early morning.

By afternoon gusts will “relax” to about 20-40 mph and continue to decrease Thursday evening.

At the same time, temperatures will be in free-fall mode, dropping through the 40′s in the afternoon and below freezing by midnight, bringing a flash freeze over the entire region.

From there, we stay cold through the weekend, with a few “Clipper” systems on Sunday and again early next week, bringing chances of light snow to start the month of February.

So buckle your seat belts and enjoy the ride!

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.

BOSTON (CBS) – This winter may be remembered as the winter of the 1-to-3 inch snow storm. It’s hard to even call it a “storm” really, I mean 1-to-3 inches for the native New Englander is more of a nuisance than a storm.

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This “nuisance” began Monday afternoon.

If you were to look at the radar this morning you may think the snow had already begun.  The air was so dry though, the majority of the snow got eaten up as it fell.

This is certainly not a blockbuster snow event by any means, instead just bad timing coinciding with the PM commute. As of 5pm there was anywhere from 0.5” to 1.5” across most of Southern New England with about 1-3” expected in total.

There will be a bit of a break with just some lighter snow and freezing drizzle for a time after 6pm before another batch of sleet, snow and freezing rain arrives after 7pm. Not expecting much more accumulation with this second batch in Southern New England as most of it will come as a mix. However north of Boston, from Southern New Hampshire up through the Mountains, snow will continue to fall through about midnight and 3-5” are likely.

This second wave of precipitation will likely keep roads a bit hazardous piling some ice on top of the fresh snow. Expect any untreated roads to be slippery, temperature will not rise above freezing for most of the area all night long.

The storm is long gone by Tuesday morning’s commute and milder air will begin to filter in. Temperatures will near 40 on Tuesday afternoon and perhaps make a run at 60 on Wednesday!

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.

Temps as of this typing are already in the lower single digits…this is easily going to be the coldest night of the season with most suburbs to the north and west of Boston going below zero.  There is also another Windchill Advisory in effect for the interior as windchill values will approach 20 below zero at times.  Tomorrow will be bright and sunny, but it won’t help out at all…temps will once again only climb into the mid teens.

On Friday, we will be following the progression of an Alberta Clipper system diving out of the Great Lakes.  The energy will be transferred to the Mid-Atlantic Coast and a powerful Nor’easter will develop sliding south of Southern New England late Friday night and Saturday morning.  How quickly this energy transfer and thus the strengthening of the Nor’easter takes place along with how close to the coast this formation occurs will ultimately determine how much snow we see.  At the moment it appears that several fluffy inches (2-5″) will fall over SE MA and 2″ or less from just south of Boston up to the New Hampshire border.  The snow will start late evening on Friday and end first thing on Saturday morning.

Last night’s snow was a bit of a dud for most but there were up to 6 inches that fell over SE MA.  The intense snow bands just missed the coastline and stayed out over the water limiting most to a dusting to 2 inches.  Now that the snow is gone it is all about the cold as a lengthy Arctic blast grips the Northeast.

There is a Windchill Advisory in place for interior New England tonight as surface temps and gusty wind will create feels-like temperatures of 10-20 below zero.  The advisory expires tomorrow at 10AM but the cold won’t improve much over the next couple of days.  Highs will be in the teen and overnight lows will be either side of zero.  Even gusty winds on Thursday will make the day harsh with windchills below or near zero all day!

By Friday, the cold starts to abate but at the same time another storm system will be taking shape to our west.  Another “Clipper” system will dive in to the Mid-Atlantic from the Northern Plains.  This storm will be weak at first but will blow up when it hits the milder waters off the Coast and turn into a powerful Nor’easter.  The timing of this intensification and exact track are still in question but a sizeable storm is possible Friday night into Saturday morning.

BOSTON (CBS) – When all is said and done we may look back at this week of winter as the most harsh of the season.

Two episodes of snow, one Monday night and another coming on Friday night, combined with some of the coldest temperatures we have seen or felt in two years.

I would say that is a pretty rough week by any hearty New Englander’s standards.

Check: Interactive Radar  |  Current Conditions  |  Weather Blogs

So how low will we go?

It will not be record cold, at least not for the major cities.

Boston’s records over the next few nights are -6 and then -13 degrees.  Thankfully, we will not come close to those numbers.

Boston’s projected lows overnight tonight are around 8 degrees and by Thursday morning around 4 degrees.

Worcester’s records on Wednesday and Thursday are -13 and -14 respectively, again well out of reach, but actual lows near zero will be nothing to sneeze at.

While the actual air temperatures may not drop to those record lows, the “feels like” temperature surely will. There will be a biting, gusty wind for most of tonight and again tomorrow night, producing wind chill values near 20 below in the northern and western burbs.

Cities like Fitchburg, Nashua, New Hampshire and many others in the Worcester Hills will bottom out below zero the next few mornings.  Combine that with wind gusts 20 mph or greater and you’ve got a temperature that feels like -20 or even lower, truly dangerous cold.

We have not been this cold in southern New England since January 24, 2011 when Boston had a high of just 13 degrees and a low of -2.

When all is said and done with this cold snap, many New England towns will have spent more than a week below 32 degrees – starting this past Sunday night when temperatures first dipped below freezing and ending either this Saturday afternoon for some or perhaps as late as next Monday afternoon for others!

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.

Barry Burbank will be here bright and early for any changes or developments so tune in starting at 4:30AM tomorrow morning.

This will be a harsh winter week with bitterly cold air and two snow events.  The first is moving in now and looks to provide several inches in a very localized area.  An area of low pressure is sliding south of New England right now and is providing an inch or two to the region along with 3-6″ in extreme SE MA.  However, after the storm slides by, an area of convergence will set up along the coastline focusing additional heavy bursts of snow during the morning commute.

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Pinpointing where these heavy bands set-up is like forecasting Summer thunderstorms…very, very difficult.  But our best guess is that the band will set-up somewhere along the North Shore on up into Seacoast NH.  Within it, the wind will be calm but the flakes will be fat and snowfall rates could be higher than 1″ per hour creating white-out conditions for a time during the morning commute.  6″ or more will fall within these narrow bands meaning that one town may have a lot of snow and a few towns over very little.  The snow will taper off by midday and the sun will poke out for the afternoon.

Behind the storm some of the coldest air in years awaits us…hgh will range from 10-18 for the middle of the week and lows will be near zero in Boston with subzero temps inland.  This cold will be dangerous and so keep an eye on the pets and your neighbors.

Our second chance of snow will come on Friday with a more typical storm capable of around 6″ regionwide.

BOSTON (CBS) – This is not your typical winter storm on the way tonight and Tuesday morning.

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A small parcel of energy called a “Clipper” system is diving south out of Canada this morning.  This weak low pressure will receive a shot of adrenaline as it reaches the mild ocean just offshore of southern New England.

When this happens we expect that something called a “Norlun Trough” will form. This is a somewhat rare weather occurance where a rather slender band of heavy snow rotates north to south down the New England coastline.

It has some resemblance to a summertime squall line of thunderstorms – it is hard to predict if and where it will form, but when it does, it can mean some very heavy precipitation in very localized spots, typically right along the coast.

In the past, this Norlun Trough has dumped 2-to-4 inch  snowfall rates for several hours, bringing travel to a halt with near blizzard-like conditions, but it is highly local.

There could very well be 4-to-8 inches or more of snow in one town and next to nothing a few miles away.

So what should we expect this time?

Some light snow will break out this evening over most of southern New England and continue overnight.

For most inland locations this will be a light snow event, just a dusting to 3 inches at best.

Early Tuesday morning though we will be watching for the formation of this heavy band of snow along the coast.

At this point, two coastal spots seem most likely to be affected – first, the seacoast of southern New Hampshire down to Cape Ann and second, the South Shore down to Cape Cod.

There could very well be 4-to-8 inches of snow in some portions of both the North and South Shores, while just a few miles inland snow amounts would drop off significantly.

This will need to be watched very closely and could have huge effects on the Tuesday morning commute.

Thereafter, some of the coldest air in the past few years will pour into New England from Northern Canada.

Daytime highs on Wednesday and Thursday will be in the teens with overnight lows near or below zero.

Another shot of snow may come on Friday, not a major storm, but the potential for additional plowable snow.

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.

Next week is looking brutally cold…at the moment every single day of the workweek should have a high below 30 degrees…mostly near 20…and overnight lows in some areas will be subzero.  There will also be a couple of chances for snow…the first one comes early Tuesday morning with a little light snow and the second comes on Friday.  Neither of the two events looks like a big storm as the ingredients just aren’t coming together but they will need to be watched.

Have a great weekend all….

We are on the verge of some of the coldest air of the season. An arctic front will pass through shortly knocking temps into the teens Friday morning and despite lots of sunshine tomorrow, the recovery will be limited to the middle 20s.

The very active boundary that has sent storms up the East Coast all week remains just south of New England and another storm is blowing up along it right now.  The passage of the arctic front will save most of Southern New England from snow but SE Mass will get grazed by the storm as it passes by late tonight.

Cape Cod and the Islands will see the most…1-3″ with the chance for 4″ on Nantucket and the Outer Cape.  From the Canal into Southern Plymouth and Bristol Counties around an inch will fall and then coatings are possible up the South Shore to about Boston.  The storm will slide away first thing tomorrow morning leaving us with that ineffective sunshine.

This round of arctic air won’t stick around long as we’ll warm up into the 40s over the weekend before another arctic front plummets our temps Sunday night for the game and early next week.

If you didn’t get all the snow and slop off the driveway, don’t worry, you’ll get another chance tomorrow…sunshine and temps near 40 will soften everything up again.  By tomorrow evening that window will close as an arctic front races through and temps will be in the singe digits and teens by Friday morning.  Along with falling temps, some areas will see a little snow tomorrow night.  A large ocean nor’easter will form well to our south but some of the moisture on the northern edge will interact with the incoming arctic air and snow will break out for a few hours very early Friday morning over the Cape and Islands and a couple of inches can be expected by mid Friday morning.  There is also a good chance that ocean effect snow showers will form along the South Shore and could put down coatings as far north as Boston.

Following this grazing of snow, Friday will likely be the coldest day of the season with highs in the mid 20s!

BOSTON (CBS) - By most hearty New Englanders standards this winter has been pretty wimpy.

Just 3.8 inches of snow has fallen in Boston thus far, more than a foot less than the average to date. This does, however, represent an increase in snow production from last winter, when we only had 1.5 inches of snow by now.

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There is now good news for snow lovers – we will be adding to those low snow totals on Wednesday.

It’s not a Nor’easter or a powerful ocean storm, but it will be just enough to cause some traffic issues and bring some much needed revenue to those hungry snow plow drivers.

TIMELINE

The snow will break out in extreme southern New England just after midnight.

It will start as rain over Cape Cod and stay that way for the entire duration of the storm.

The snow will move steadily northward and reach the Mass Pike and Boston between 3 and 5 a.m.

By 6-to-7 a.m. it should be snowing just about everywhere with a rain-snow mix along the immediate coastline.

Snow will continue moderately all morning and the rain-snow line will creep north and west as well.

By midday, it will be mainly rain in Boston, southeastern Massachusetts and along the coast with snow to the north and west.

That rain-snow line may reach as far northwest as Interstate 495 during the afternoon and at the same time the precipitation will be coming to an end. By the evening commute, there will just be a few drops and flakes leftover.

ACCUMULATION

Snow amounts will average about 2-to-4 inches for most communities.

The exception will be along the immediate coastline, including Boston where 1-to-2 inches of wet, slushy slop will be left.

There will be little to no accumulation in extreme southeastern Massachusetts and over Cape Cod and the Islands.

As for a snow “jackpot,” it will likely be somewhere in Worcester County, in the elevated hills where as much as 5 or 6 inches could happen in places like Leicester, Gardner, Fitchburg or even over the New Hampshire border.

Thereafter, no big storms in sight, just a series of Arctic cold fronts bringing several rounds of frigid air down from Canada, lasting well into next week.

Winter is back, and it looks like it is here to stay this time!

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.

Late tomorrow night and early Wednesday morning, light precip will start to fall over Southern New England.  While the air in place won’t be that cold, the air will be dry and when the precip falls into it air temps will start to cool.  This will result in most areas of New England seeing snow.  Closer to the coast and over SE MA it will be more challenging pinning down precip type…and there may be several precip type changes during the course of the event.  Temps in the mid 30s at the start in those areas may mean a bit of rain but as the temp and dewpoint get closer together, resulting in colder surface temps, that rain may change to snow.  Finally, due to the lack of a strong high pressure center to our north and a strengthening low pressure center to our south, as the low gets closer to us winds should turn to the east and a flow of milder marine air will invade the coastline warming things up enough to change back to rain.  Thus, amounts near the coast and over SE MA will be held down to a slushy inch or two or even less.  Inland areas, where the air will be a couple of degrees colder will see 2-4″…just enough to replenish our depleted snowpiles.  The storm will pull away quickly Wednesday afternoon and all the precip will be ending during the early evening.

Following the snow, our weather will be dominated by the northern branch of the jetstream…this will keep larger storms away from us for several days but it will deliver a series of arctic coldfronts that will trigger a flurry with their passage and a blast of cold shortly after.  Winter is back, and it looks like it will hang around for awhile.

So many people were outdoors Monday enjoying the last moments of our January thaw it was like we hatched out of our winter cocoons.

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Were you one of those who emerged out of hibernation and said, “Geez, that winter wasn’t so bad, this winter thing in New England is getting easy!”

Well don’t be fooled, this winter is a very LONG way from being over.  In fact, I believe the coldest and snowiest days are yet to come.

First things first.  A cold front has made its way through New England (although you wouldn’t know it based on the temperatures right now).

This front has opened the door for colder air to sneak in from Canada, and it will continue to leak in over the next few days. It is not going to be too dramatic.   Highs Tuesday will actually still be slightly above normal, in the upper 30′s to near 40.

The problem is that cold front is going to linger just to our south and become a weather boundary of sorts, separating the chilly air to the north and much milder air to the south.

This will become a breeding ground for ripples of low pressure (small storms) to form and zip by southern New England. The first of which will pass by tonight with just a few sprinkles or flurries expected well to the south.

A more significant wave will make a run at us late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, bringing a steadier and heavier mix of precipitation to all of southern New England.

TIMELINE

It should commence shortly after midnight Tuesday as mainly rain along the immediate South Coast and light snow inland of I-95.

By the Wednesday morning commute there could be a dusting to as much as an inch of snow on the ground for much of Metro West, a rain-snow mix closer to Boston and mainly rain along the immediate coast and over southeast Massachusetts.

The rain-snow line remains a tough call at this time but we do expect the precipitation to remain all snow for areas north and west of I-495, perhaps as close as Route 128.

ACCUMULATION

Since the storm will be a relatively quick mover, ending Wednesday afternoon, the snow amounts should remain fairly low, 2 or 3 inches on average. There could be some spot 4 inch or 5 inch amounts in parts of Worcester County.

There will be very little wind with this storm and no coastal concerns.

After the storm departs on Wednesday, a series of Arctic fronts will come through over the next several days bringing waves of very cold air into New England.

The final push may come Sunday night, unleashing the coldest air of the season on us for next week.

You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.