Good evening from Southern Connecticut Weather!
Today we experienced the coldest day of the year so far, with some inland locales approaching 0 degrees for the low, with quite unseasonably cold single digits at the shoreline. Thankfully, the winds failed, by-and-large, to produce, so windchills were cold but not quite as dangerous as first thought. Throughout the day, temps steadily rose through the 20s throughout the state, with some of the northern towns at higher elevations struggling to make it out of the mid to upper teens. Conditions thankfully stayed sunny to mostly sunny through the day. Looking to tonight, we start off with fair conditions early, with temperatures staying pretty much where they are right now, if not dropping off a degree or two. Later this evening, clouds start to increase in advance of our next weather maker, and probably the reason you are reading this forecast right now.
A 2 part system, which will be impacting our weather through pretty much the entire weekend, is currently centered in the mid-west and will gradually track north and east through the Great Lakes. With cold temperatures in our area, and warmth moving in ahead of aforementioned system, there will be warm air advection snows well in advance. Current timing for snows to move into the state, looks like around 2 am in far western and southwestern Connecticut, and overspreading the rest of the state by around 4 am. Snow could be heavy at times through the early afternoon, so please be careful if you need to travel during this time. Snow will gradually change to a mix then all rain starting in far southeastern Connecticut by mid-morning with the rain/snow line working its way north and west through the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Another aspect of this storm that we are worried about is the chance of some freezing rain, north of 95, and especially north of I84. Mid-level temps may warm far faster than ground levels leaving a risk of an extended period of freezing rain, especially during the afternoon and evening hours in the previously mentioned areas. That's shown here on the RGEM, valid for noon tomorrow.
Today we experienced the coldest day of the year so far, with some inland locales approaching 0 degrees for the low, with quite unseasonably cold single digits at the shoreline. Thankfully, the winds failed, by-and-large, to produce, so windchills were cold but not quite as dangerous as first thought. Throughout the day, temps steadily rose through the 20s throughout the state, with some of the northern towns at higher elevations struggling to make it out of the mid to upper teens. Conditions thankfully stayed sunny to mostly sunny through the day. Looking to tonight, we start off with fair conditions early, with temperatures staying pretty much where they are right now, if not dropping off a degree or two. Later this evening, clouds start to increase in advance of our next weather maker, and probably the reason you are reading this forecast right now.
A 2 part system, which will be impacting our weather through pretty much the entire weekend, is currently centered in the mid-west and will gradually track north and east through the Great Lakes. With cold temperatures in our area, and warmth moving in ahead of aforementioned system, there will be warm air advection snows well in advance. Current timing for snows to move into the state, looks like around 2 am in far western and southwestern Connecticut, and overspreading the rest of the state by around 4 am. Snow could be heavy at times through the early afternoon, so please be careful if you need to travel during this time. Snow will gradually change to a mix then all rain starting in far southeastern Connecticut by mid-morning with the rain/snow line working its way north and west through the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Another aspect of this storm that we are worried about is the chance of some freezing rain, north of 95, and especially north of I84. Mid-level temps may warm far faster than ground levels leaving a risk of an extended period of freezing rain, especially during the afternoon and evening hours in the previously mentioned areas. That's shown here on the RGEM, valid for noon tomorrow.
There could be a lull in the precipitation as we head toward Saturday evening, with temperatures still rising with southeast winds, through the 30s and 40s. Later Saturday night, rain picks up again, and temperatures will continue to rise. Some shoreline towns may come close to 60 degrees by Sunday morning! That warmth will be shortly live, because on the back side of the storm a strong cold front will push its way through the state first bringing more rain with it, then possibly some snows on the back side. We will get more into that later this weekend.
Considering the slightly colder trend we have seen today, we have raised our forecast snow accumulations slightly across most of the state. Here is our new snowmap.
Considering the slightly colder trend we have seen today, we have raised our forecast snow accumulations slightly across most of the state. Here is our new snowmap.
As you can see from our snowfall map we have brought totals up slightly and even introduced a new zone into the mix. 4-8 in northwest Connecticut where the cold air will hold on the longest, and also there will be help from elevation, while most of the state is in the 3-6 inch category. We raised most areas because we see increasing evidence that cold air will hold on for longer and along with more precipitation into it. You will notice that we kept the 1-3 inch zone still intact, and that is for 2 reasons, there looks to be less actual precipitation that makes it to this portion of the state, and the southeast winds coming right off the Atlantic still look to be enough of a force to quickly raise temperatures in places like Mystic and New London, as is the case with many winter storms.
Stick with Southern Connecticut Weather throughout the storm for periodic updates. Thank you for making us your source on Connecticut weather. Have a great night!- TW
Stick with Southern Connecticut Weather throughout the storm for periodic updates. Thank you for making us your source on Connecticut weather. Have a great night!- TW
