Hub looks to rainy Monday as inland get heavy snow
Depending on where you live in the Bay State you’ll either be digging out from a large snowfall or driving through a rainy mess Monday morning.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for western Franklin and Hampshire counties, where upwards of eight inches of snow could fall Sunday into Monday.
Those areas are expected to hit the jackpot of the storm, while Boston and other coastal cities and towns will receive more rain, with just one to two inches of snow anticipated, said Alan Dunham, a meteorologist for the NWS Boston office.
“People who are traveling into Boston, especially from the northwest of the city, will have to leave a little extra time for their (Monday) morning commute,” Dunham told the Herald on Saturday.
In its area forecast discussion Saturday afternoon, the NWS said “there is still time for the forecast snowfall totals to change.” It left a winter storm watch in effect for most of the state except for the east slopes of the Berkshires “due to the lingering uncertainty.”
“Unfortunately, the critical details still remain uncertain, and the margin for error is very small,” the discussion reads. “We’ll be monitoring these details overnight into Sunday, and likely making further changes to the forecast as new information arrives.”
Meteorologists said the region is likely to see snowfall over two periods from the same storm, with some falling early Sunday morning before transitioning to more rain and a wintry mix in the afternoon. The storm will finish up with a period of snowfall Monday.
Higher elevations, above 1,000 feet, are most likely to stay all snow, with lower elevations, especially along and south of the Mass Pike, more in the transition zone, according to the NWS forecast discussion.
“The overall trend is for slightly less snowfall across portions of southern New England, and a corresponding increase in the threat of some icing or sleet,” the NWS stated. “Given the expected marginal temperatures, thinking this will be a heavy/wet snow for most of southern New England, which will cut down on accumulations.”
Meteorologists are forecasting dry weather and seasonable temperatures for the rest of the week, starting Tuesday.