Good evening from Southern Connecticut Weather!
Today was a sunny and mild, but windy day. One of those “hold on to your hat” type days that we’ve been having lately. Such is normal early March weather, perfect for flying kites. Through this evening, clouds will be on the increase and precipitation will filter in. Many places will start as rain, as the mild airmass takes a few hours to displace, and replaced by a much colder temperature regime. I’m expecting precipitation to reach the area by around 10 pm in western Connecticut, and after midnight in eastern Connecticut. At first, rain will start as more showers and drizzle than anything, with heavier precipitation moving in just before sunrise. With the heavier precipitation, mid and upper level dynamics will take over and turn any liquid precipitation to snow. Temperatures tonight will start out in the upper 40s and 50s, but will gradually drop as precip moves in.
Today was a sunny and mild, but windy day. One of those “hold on to your hat” type days that we’ve been having lately. Such is normal early March weather, perfect for flying kites. Through this evening, clouds will be on the increase and precipitation will filter in. Many places will start as rain, as the mild airmass takes a few hours to displace, and replaced by a much colder temperature regime. I’m expecting precipitation to reach the area by around 10 pm in western Connecticut, and after midnight in eastern Connecticut. At first, rain will start as more showers and drizzle than anything, with heavier precipitation moving in just before sunrise. With the heavier precipitation, mid and upper level dynamics will take over and turn any liquid precipitation to snow. Temperatures tonight will start out in the upper 40s and 50s, but will gradually drop as precip moves in.
For Friday morning into Friday early afternoon, the state will be impacted by a potent “clipper” type, tracking in from the upper Midwest, then just south of the state, with strengthening taking place just to our east. If we had some blocking in place, this would have been much higher impact system, especially in eastern Connecticut. Timing for this event looks less than optimal. Most of the snow should fall over the course of the entire morning rush, so school closings across the state look to be more than probable. Snow should be out of the area by early afternoon, and especially before the PM rush.
Temperatures throughout the day statewide look to hover between the low 30s inland, and mid 30s at the shore. Notice I said “mid 30s at the shore”, you are probably saying to yourself “Well, doesn’t water freeze at 32 degrees? Shouldn’t that be rain at the shore?”. Yes, you would be correct, water does freeze at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but mid and upper level cold combined with very low dew points and moderate to heavy precipitation will prove to be enough dynamics to keep this all snow even at the shoreline. Speaking of the shoreline and southern Connecticut, we are looking for the higher snow totals to be in this area. I am sticking with the snowfall forecast from last night, 2-5 inches south, 1-3 inches north. There could be some isolated 6 inch amounts in far southeastern Connecticut, as they will be closer to the “clipper” as it redevelops into a strong low pressure system to the east of the state. Other impacts from this storm such as wind and coastal flooding should be minimal, save for some breezes along the coast and wind gusts approaching 25 mph. Looks as though snow and slick roads will be the main impacts from this one. Advisories and warnings in effect… Winter storm warning for New London County, and winter weather advisory in effect for the rest of the state.
A quick look ahead to the weekend and beyond….after tomorrow’s snow clears out, windy and much colder conditions look to make themselves comfortable in the great state of Connecticut. Later Friday and Saturday, a cold front will move into the state, bringing the Arctic hounds and well below average temperatures with it. Highs over the weekend will struggle to make it to the mid 20s statewide, while nighttime lows in the low to mid single digits will be common. Well below average temps will continue through most of next week as well, with general high temps only making it into the low to mid 30s. As for more snow/ storms on the horizon, beyond this next system, we are watching an event for late Monday night through Tuesday. Right now, it is far too early to discuss any concrete info or snowfall totals. Just know it is on our radar, and we will be watching very closely.
As always, thank you for reading this discussion and continuing to make Southern Connecticut Weather your trusted source for all things Connecticut weather. Please like, share, and interact with us on our social media--on Facebook to share our discussions, and follow us on Twitter @southernctwx to retweet our posts! Stay tuned throughout tomorrow for updates on the snow. Have a great night!- TW
