Snowy Wednesday But Schools Will Be Open

We had hoped for snow totals to get juiced for Wednesday in order to bring school cancellations into play, but that does not seem to be the case for this Alberta clipper that will whip through our area tomorrow (Wednesday).

Snow total predictions are in the 1-3 range for Berkshire County. Higher elevation towns in the northeast slopes of the Berkshires will receive the most snow. Valley areas and southern Berkshire will receive just over an inch. Areas directly to our north have Winter Weather Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings (Adirondacks), so we are just on the edge of a significant snow storm.

Boston NWS favors higher snow totals for Northern Berkshire. We shall see.

Because the snow totals are relatively low, road crews should be able to keep up with the snow, and that means busses should not have any trouble making their routes on Wednesday afternoon. As we mentioned over the weekend, a few cautious school leaders might cancel after school activities but even those cancellations will be few and far between.

This is the short-range model called the NAM. It typically runs high so half of this prediction would seem about right.

The snow should end in the late afternoon or early evening and then it's going to get blustery. Winds in the 20-30 mph range are expected on Thursday, and we could see an additional inch of snow as upslope snows kick in from the departing storm. Some valley areas could get as much snow Thursday afternoon and evening as they do on Wednesday.

Image from Ken Mahan, Boston Globe.

Fortunately for us, the unsettled pattern continues. We are eyeing more snow on Sunday and perhaps a bigger storm for the middle of next week. It's all very tenuous right now, but another snow day before the holiday break would be delightful.

Snow Returns on Wednesday, Dec. 10

The week has started with a cold but relatively wind-less day so the real feel on this Monday isn't so bad.

Temps will fall throughout the night and we will flirt with our coldest thermometer reading of the winter when we wake up on Tuesday.

We do have snow in the forecast. While last week's storm was the preferred coastal storm, this week's storm is an Alberta clipper, which typically produces less snow, and that is absolutely the case this week.

Courtesy of NWS Albany.

We'll actually see two systems cruise on through. One will pass more to our north and give us a coating or 1/2" in the overnight hours on Tuesday. The second system will travel in a more southerly direction and give us more snow. Right now the models are showing 1-3" for the County with higher elevation locations getting more snow. We may even see the snow change to mixed precipitation and then rain especially in Southern Berkshire County.

Because of the midday timing of the bulk of the snow, we do not have any confidence in snow days or early releases for Wednesday. We may see a Winter Weather Advisory pop up on Tuesday, but a Winter Storm Watch is almost assuredly out of the question. After school activities may be cancelled on Wednesday, but those decisions will be scattered throughout the region.

The snow and rain ends late Wednesday night, and we will see periodic snow showers on Thursday as the temperatures return to the mid 20s to end the week.

Perhaps the forecast for snow totals will come up throughout the day tomorrow, but don't get your hopes up for any school-shortening decisions by Superintendents this week.

The North American model favors higher snow totals for Wednesday. The Euro is only showing 2.0 inches.

Looking Ahead to December 8-12

It was a good week of winter with our first snow day of the season on Tuesday and our lowest temperature of the season on Friday. Now that we have a snow base and continued cold in the forecast, hopefully we can build on what has started.

In the next week we are looking at a few chances to add to the base. Sunday night we may see a half inch, and then we are looking more intently at a Wednesday/Thursday wintery precipitation event.

Temps will ease a bit this weekend and move closer toward freezing for daily highs. But another cold shot of air--even colder than today's--will move in for Monday. Monday's high will be in the mid teens and Tuesday morning will very cold with temps in the -5 to -10 degree range. We suppose we could see a freeze delay for a school district or two but that seems like a long-shot.

The Euro-AI model is showing a more optimistic snow total for Thursday.

Some kind of frozen precipitation will fall from the sky on Wednesday afternoon, night, and Thursday morning. Models are not showing a lot of snow--only between 2 and 4 inches--and meteorologists are seeing a potential snow to mixed precipitation set-up. Temps will hover around freezing so wet snow and/or sleet and freezing rain are possibilities depending on your elevation.

If anything is going to happen on Thursday, then delays would be the more likely outcome. As of today it's too messy and variable for us to give you anything definitive other than a small chance for delays.

Have a great weekend, and thanks for supporting the staff at Greylock Snow Day.