The coldest day of this young winter season has arrived for New England. This comes as yesterday's Alberta Clipper continues to strengthen as it moves away from New England. This strengthening of the system will allow for strong cold air advection amid a northwest flow. An area of high pressure over the southeast will make for a rather tight pressure gradient, bringing 25-35mph gusts region-wide for much of the day.
The result will be a cold wind throughout the day on Friday. While morning lows aren't overly cold given it's early December, the strong cold air advection will prevent much of a warm-up throughout the day. Afternoon highs will only climb a few degrees from morning lows. Add in the blustery winds, and feels-like temperatures won't climb out of the teens for most with much of the higher terrain remaining in the single digits this afternoon.
Saturday will remain cold, though not quite as cold as it was looking several days ago. A brief and weak ridge of high pressure will slide over the region, resulting in a reduction in winds, though a breeze may still be noticeable. With the quick exit of the clipper system, it led to Friday being the very cold day rather than Saturday, though Saturday does remain cold.
Sunday has been trending more mild as another clipper system enters the picture. This system will lift a warm front towards New England in the morning. This front will provide forcing for snow showers Saturday night to Sunday morning as the system moves through, but will eventually lead to a milder afternoon for southern and central New England. The northern tier will likely remain on the colder side.
Frontal boundaries will rule New England's weather for much of next week, bringing varied temperatures, but generally more mild than this past week. The exception will be the northern woods of Maine and New Hampshire, who will stay colder on Monday and Tuesday. These boundaries will also bring a spat of unsettled weather. All of New England is looking more mild on Wednesday as a more organized storm system approaches, bringing with it a surge of moisture and southerly air.
The temperature forecast from Saturday through midweek is changeable as the timing of multiple disturbances and these frontal boundaries will determine how mild it gets (or how cold it stays). Overall, temperatures will likely be varied across New England with some spots colder than others.
As far as precipitation chances go, a highly unsettled stretch of weather is upcoming through much of the next week. This unsettled stretch begins (or really continues after the clipper yesterday) this evening with a few scattered snow showers breaking out this evening and overnight across Vermont and northern New Hampshire. After that, a weaker clipper system arrives Saturday night and Sunday morning, bringing a widespread round of light snow showers. These snow showers will likely be the most numerous Sunday morning.
Below: CMC showing potential weather early Sunday morning:
Unlike our most recent clipper system, which strengthened and produced a secondary low over New England, this one will be weak and deep moisture will be lacking. This will create a very minor snowfall event, with no more than a couple inches in the higher terrain and coatings across the rest of New England.
Much of next week is complex and messy. As stated before, frontal boundaries will rule the week for New England, leading to continued unsettled weather. After a dry start to Monday, precipitation looks to move in later in the day along a front. Additional waves of moisture will likely stream along this front through midweek. Trying to time out these waves at this point is futile. These waves of precipitation will likely be a mixed bag with rain showers, snow showers, freezing rain and sleet all possible across New England.
Precipitation amounts through midweek look fairly light. Precipitation type will be dominated by plain rain across southern New England (outside of the higher terrain) and the northern New England coastal plain. A messy mix of wintry precipitation is more likely for interior northern New England. More details on where precipitation will set up and what type it will be will come with a bit more time.
Below: Current weather map for Monday (December 9):
A stronger and more organized system will move through around midweek, likely on Wednesday or Wednesday night. This system will have the chance to bring heavier precipitation to the region. This appears to be a mild storm for much of New England with a soaking rainfall possible.
With that said, trends will need to be watched on when colder air can filter into northern New England, leading to a switch to snowfall. This could be a mixed bag storm with rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow across New England at some point during the storm.
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