*NEW BLOG* Another Storm (Snow for some) On The Way

A major blizzard that just hit parts on the Texas Panhandle into parts on Oklahoma and Kansas is now tracking to the north/northeast as a strong “Cutoff” Low Pressure and is caught in a trapped 500mb pattern with strong upstream blocking near Greenland.

The storm is massive but not your typical coastal low or Nor’easter. Its center will sprawl out on its approach towards Southern New England this evening and through the day Wednesday as the low center will wobble and drift to our west through Thursday and possibly even into Friday keeping it unsettled, cold aloft and scattered mixed precipitation possible through the period and even into the weekend.
The main precipitation shield is now located still off to our south and southwest From Buffalo NY to southern New jersey and will continue to make its way towards our area this evening. Precipitation is expected to break out around midnight (give or take an hour or two) from the southwest to northeast. The air is initially cold enough aloft (850mb approx. 5,000 ft up) for all to support snow and mixed precipitation for many. This is the case also for those (which is many) that still have mild surface temperatures as dewpoints are lower in the 20’s to lower 30’s. The precipitation that starts to fall will lower the temperatures initially due to the lower dewpoints. This process is called evaporational cooling. The milder air aloft will begin to warm from south to north soon thereafter, though will take longer for the higher elevations and further to the north and west where our heavier snowfall amounts are expected with this storm. CLICK ON ALL GRAPHICS FOR LARGER VIEWS

Elsewhere after a brief burst on snow that could coat the ground for folks near the coast, this will turn into a windswept rainstorm with once again plentiful moisture and the potential for 1-2” on liquid with this one which looks to put many well above average for the month on February. The main batch of precipitation with this storm should start to decay after late Wednesday afternoon, though the Low pressure that is expected to stay to our west throughout that duration of the meat of the storm will start to drift towards the coast and with it bring back colder air aloft and could switch all to light snow and or snow showers that could be on and off throughout Thursday and even right into early Saturday, MUCH like our last storm. Some additional accumulations are possible with that as it could form yet another weak inverted trough or axis on heavy snowfall for some. That potential area is being monitored and hopefully can be pinned down in the next day or two. The other issue will be increasing wind gusts. The wind will increase near midnight with gusts near 30mph approaching the South Coasts and move northeast and increase to where many will see 35-45mph throughout the region Wednesday. Most of these gusts will be from the southwest initially then shift to the east and slight northeast. This adds issues to those that will see more snow as it is expected to be a very wet snow and certainly can’t count out some power outages near and especially outside of Worcester Massachusetts .

With that persistent gusty east wind, its the reason areas near coastal locations warm at all levels that this is predominantly a rain and wind storm. Any little accumulation that may occur in these locations will be washed away. High tide mid-day Wednesday may bring a storm surge on 1-2 feet to east coastal facing shores and possible minor flooding and erosion. Stay tuned for further updates as needed. Though not many expected as confidence right now is quite high on the solution just printed out. Thank you for reading ! ~ Anthony
For a mapped image and further details on all Watches, Warnings, Advisories and Hazardous Weather Outlooks for our area, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/box/