After a chilly start this morning, temperatures will rise into the 50s and lower 60s this afternoon thanks to a decent amount of sunshine and an active southwest wind. Clouds will be on the increase today, ahead of a strong cold front to our west which will approach western New England by this evening. Rain will accompany this weather boundary, which marks the leading edge of much colder air ready and waiting to unload on our region. In fact, the air will be so cold, that it will force a change from rain to snow in many spots overnight tonight and early tomorrow morning.
How much snow are we talking about? Not much. Most areas will see a coating to an inch, primarily on grassy surfaces. Ahead of the snow, rainfall totals will be between .25″ and 1″ from north to south, enough to slow the recession of rivers, but unlikely to bring any widespread new flooding.
In the wake of the frontal passage, sunshine slowly returns from north to south over the course of Friday, and a blustery northwest wind kicks up. The warmest time of the day will bring highs only in the 30s for most communities, and the active wind gusting to 35 mph at times will produce wind chill values in the 20s, regionwide! Cool air will linger into the weekend, with highs struggling to eclipse the lower 40s on Saturday, even with ample sunshine. Sunday is likely to bring some moderation, though clouds will accompany the warming air, and a few showers are possible from west to east by Sunday evening. Rain is likely to return Sunday night into early next week, with a wintry mix possible – especially in the North Country – if enough cool air remains in place.
Enjoy our day of warmth today! 
-Danielle
Heavy rain in the forecast is the last thing that many of us want to hear right now, especially those of us affected by flooding from the 6″-10″ of rain from the previous storm on March 13-15. Nonetheless, puddles are on the roads this morning, small streams are coming out of their banks and many rivers are rising…again. As of 8 AM this morning, we have already seen 1″-3″ of rain in many spots across the region, with the highest amounts thus far in Rhode Island. The steadier rain will taper to showers for most of New England from late-morning to mid-afternoon, before steady rain redevelops and falls heavily again through the evening, producing an additional 1″-3″ of rain.
Otter Creek at Rutland Center, VT – the Connecticut River at Montague City, MA and Thompsonville, CT – and the Assabet River at Maynard are forecast to go into moderate flooding. Dozens of other rivers across New England (particularly NH and ME) will rise to minor flood stage, and pretty much all eastern New England communities remain vulnerable to flash flooding of streams and streets through tonight. To see more details on the observed and forecast river conditions, visit the Northeast River Forecast Center, and click on your area of interest. To see the latest flood watches and warnings across New England, click here.
As the upper level low moves through tonight, showers will continue in southern New England, while the rain changes to snow showers in the high terrain of northern New England. Most spots will see a dusting to an inch of snow, with 1″-3″ in the mountains, and 2″-5″ in far northern Maine.
We’ll still have to contend with some rain and snow showers early tomorrow morning before gradual clearing leads to a few breaks of sunshine late in the day. Highs will be in the 50s in southern New England, 40s central and north. Thursday is probably the pick of the week with sunshine and highs around 60. But don’t get used to the “warmth”…a cold front will slice through New England overnight on Thursday and early Friday accompanied by rain/snow showers even as far south as southern New England. Behind the front – much colder air; highs will only be in the 30s on Friday and Saturday! Hope you didn’t put away the winter coats just yet! Temperatures will moderate somewhat on Sunday climbing to around 50, before the clouds increase on Monday with the next chance for some rain and mountain snow.
In the meantime, stay dry and we’ll keep you posted on any major updates here on the blog throughout the day.
Photo submitted to Sky Scenes by Genny164
A modestly strong westerly wind should keep the chilly ocean breezes at bay allowing the warm temperatures to reach all the way to our coastlines. I bet our own Tim Kelley could tell us the last time we reached 70 degrees here at NECN. I’m going to guess one of those really warm days back in the beginning of November. I’ll be watching the observations carefully today and will tweet if anyone reaches that magical number.
Meanwhile, the length of our days has grown to just over 12 hours with sunset right before 7 PM and we’re gaining approximately 3 more minutes of sunlight with each passing day. That’s great news because the sun will be shining for most of us these next few days. It also means great spring conditions for skiing, and I’m going to try and get out there one more time this weekend. Skies will become mostly cloudy in northern New England on Sunday though, with the chance of a few showers late in the day. Rain and wind moves in for all of us on Monday as a cold front slices through New England bringing cooler temperatures into the Northeast on Tuesday.
Enjoy this beautiful stretch of weather and have a great Thursday!
Top o’ the morning to ya New England! It’s been a chilly start out there this morning with a few patchy areas of frost and black ice on some of the roads, but they will melt away quickly as temperatures rebound quite nicely; expect highs in the 60s for most of us this afternoon, although local sea breezes will keep our coastlines a few degrees cooler along with the North Country. Sunshine will dominate the skies making for a beautiful St. Patrick’s Day (too bad it couldn’t have been this nice for all of the Parades this past Sunday!).
High pressure remains in control over the next several days, so aside from a few clouds from time to time, our sunny and dry stretch of weather continues right on into the weekend. West-soutwest flow keeps us mild too and temperatures will run anywhere between 5 and 25 degrees above the average for this time of year. Keep in mind the “coolest” spots will be right along the ocean and in far northern New England.
It looks like the official start to Spring this Saturday is going to be a beauty! Somebody *may* even hit 70 degrees!
By Sunday, clouds will be on the increase out ahead of a cold front approaching from the west. It’ll be breezy as the wind picks up out of the south throughout the day. Any rain should hold off until after dark, but we’ll keep an eye on the timing and let you know if any showers are expected to creep in earlier.
The heaviest rain will fall on Monday as the front slides through, perhaps even accompanied by a few isolated thunderstorms. This will usher in noticeably cooler temperatures (in the 40s for most) next Tuesday, although the sunshine will return for another extended stay.
In the meantime, stream and river levels across New England continue to recede. For the latest information on observed and forecast river conditions, visit the Northeast River Center homepage by clicking HERE.
Have a great Wednesday!
What a gorgeous stretch of weather we’ve had across New England over the past several days! Temperatures yesterday soared well into the 50s and lower 60s. Portland, ME broke their previous record high of 54° (1995) reaching 56° and Bangor, ME tied their previous record of 52° (1995).
Today will be slightly cooler in the wake of a weak cold front passage overnight, but highs will still come into the 50s in southern New England, 40s central and 30s in the North Country. This cold front also brought in a reinforcing shot of dry air, and in turn, sunshine will be the rule once again this afternoon.
Wednesday will be a few degrees cooler along the coastline as a weak sea breeze develops during the afternoon. By Thursday, clouds will be on the increase, although aside from a few showers late in the day, we should remain dry. The steadier rain will hold off until after dark.
More rain and potentially some mountain snow is forecast for Friday and the weekend as a slow moving storm currently over the nation’s midsection will head towards New England, eventually moving east of the region by the beginning of next week. This could even mean some snow showers in the higher elevations of southern New England by Monday. We’ll have to watch this system closely and fine tune the details in the days to come, but for now, plan on unsettled weather Friday through Monday.
So enjoy today!
