Forecast: Snow To Begin This Afternoon

Overnight the cold air moved into the area and temperatures are now cold enough for snow across the entire northeast. We have a typical snowstorm for southern New England on the way, with a few less typical elements as part of the storm.

Timing Of The Storm

There will be some light snow beginning mostly along the coast and south of the Massachusetts Turnpike after 2 p.m. Because there won’t be cancellations Tuesday morning, the afternoon commute, if the snow starts early enough, could be quite difficult.

The snow will be heaviest from 8 p.m. Tuesday until 7 a.m. Wednesday. The snow should end in Worcester around sunrise, Boston around 9 a.m. and over Cape Cod between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

How Much Snow?

A good snow range to have in mind for most of the Boston area is 5 to 9 inches. The snow will also be very light and be able to be pushed around quite easily. This doesn’t mean some places won’t see higher amounts. To the south of Boston, especially over Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts, the snow will pile up more and could reach a foot in places.

Blizzard Warning

There is a blizzard warning along the coast south of Boston and over Cape Cod and the Islands. A blizzard is a visibility warning to indicate strong winds of 35 miles per hour or greater, which will blow the snow around enough to lower how far you can see to a quarter mile or less. This condition must last for three hours in a row or longer to be called a blizzard. A blizzard is not an indication of an amount of snow.

Wind And Drifting

Winds will be quite gusty by early Wednesday morning and since the snow will be so light it will get blown around quite a bit.

School Delays/Cancellations

Many schools are likely going to cancel some afternoon programs Tuesday and there will be more delays and cancellations Wednesday.

Airport Travel

This storm will hit Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York earlier Tuesday. Air travel will definitely see issues starting Tuesday morning and continuing into Wednesday morning. Logan Airport will be impacted later Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Call ahead and bring your patience. We have seen how these storms are having bigger impacts to air travel than one might expect.

Cold Air And Wind Chill

Behind any snow, cold continues with frigid temperatures the rest of the week. Wind chills will be in the single numbers below zero Tuesday night and continue to be low through mid-week. There will be some moderation in the cold on Saturday, before more frigid air returns next week. The cold pattern is likely to continue through the first week of February.

Tuesday: Clouding up. Light snow developing along the south coast in the afternoon and moving into Boston. Lighter snow or snow showers west and north of Boston. A coating to 2 inches by sunset.

Tuesday night: Periods of snow and very cold. Winds will blow and drift the snow. Heaviest south of Boston. Lows 5 to 15.

Wednesday: Snow ends and remaining cold. Highs in the mid teens.

Wednesday night: Partly cloudy, with a low of 5 below to zero north, 1 to 6 in Boston and 7 to 12 above over Cape/Islands.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high 15 to 20.

Friday: More sunshine and very cold. Highs 12 to 18.

Follow updates from David Epstein on Twitter @growingwisdom.