Another Dive

80 Comments

7:40AM

After a very mild Monday which feature snow-eating fog, rain showers, and highs well into the 50s in some areas, we rapidly went the other way at night as an arctic cold front passed, plunging the region back into the deep freeze along with very cold wind chills. Some snow accompanied the arctic boundary and moved across areas mainly south of the Mass Pike in the early morning hours. These regions were also the same that saw some freezing of still-wet ground from rain earlier at night, so the combination of these will lead to slippery areas to start the day. Otherwise, a bitter cold and mostly sunny day is expected. High pressure will slide south of the region Wednesday, which will still be bright, breezy, and cold. This high will build northward with Thursday being a chilly but more tranquil day. A weak disturbance will increase the cloudiness on Friday and a frontal system may bring rain showers as it turns milder for Saturday and Sunday. This is the start of a milder interlude which will last into next week.

Updated forecast for southeastern New England…

TODAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 14-19. Wind W 15-35 MPH. Wind chill often below zero.

TONIGHT: Mostly clear. Low 0-5 except 5-10 South Coast. Wind W 10-20 MPH. Wind chill often below zero.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 19-24. Wind W 10-20 MPH. Wind chill near 10.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear. Lows 10-15. Wind W 5-15 MPH.

THURSDAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 27-32. Wind WSW 10-15 MPH.

FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy. Lows 15-25. Highs 30-40.

SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain showers. Lows in the 30s. Highs in the 40s.

SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy. Lows in the 30s. Highs in the 40s.

MONDAY: Partly sunny. Lows in the 30s. Highs in the 40s.

80 thoughts on “Another Dive”

  4. Thanks TK. 49 states have at least an area below freezing today. Pssstttt. I think we are not the one that doesn’t 🙂

  8. Morning.

    Snow is Gone. Some piles are left and some patches left in sheltered areas.

    Had to make a trip to Norwood this AM near the Walpole line.
    There was evidence of a decent snow squall there, but “Just” to the
    North of there, nothing at all.

    Pretty chilly out there, but compared to last Friday, it’s Nothing.

    What a roller coaster we’re on. 😀

  9. Heat wasn’t working here. Thought I had frozen pipe but all three zones were not giving heat. It just came on after an hour trying. Fun times!!

      1. Thanks – I don’t think it’s a frozen pipe – very wishful thinking. Our pipes are in attic which means if they break, it rains indoors.

          1. Slab and raised ranches all have them. Tons of them in the area.

            And the good news is it is a relay switch and not frozen pipes. Yay!!

  10. Charlie (or who ever can answer my question),
    I am having my back yard cleared of trees and it will be regraded. What month in spring do you think is good to hydro-seed?

    2. At least after the last average frost/freeze for your area and preferably after the last real snow threat. Soils need to be above 50 degrees for optimal growing so your average daytime temps need to be above that but nighttime lows not too far below. Early spring around here as we all know can get awfully crappy and changeable so honestly, I’d play it by ear, see what the pattern is looking like. I think late March/early April might be too early IMO

    3. Coastal it depends on sunlight etc, I will be back, I’ve got a super busy day, more than happy to give ya some tips, be back later 🙂

  11. Thanks tk, current snow cover is showing lots of bare grounds in most of the Boston to providence areas, super cold but bare ground, I’m getting a new thermometer, bc I woke up to a broken one, good day all, warming trend to end the week:)

      1. Thanks for sending. Given how cold it’s been that’s really not a lot of snow-cover for January 7th! Especially to our north. Goodness, ski country could do with some more snow and that does not look likely in the near future.

    2. Indeed, lots of bare ground. I have a friend in Providence who says there’s basically no snow left except some on the sides of roads. Boston is pretty much that way, too, with the exception perhaps of the more `suburban’ areas of Boston like JP, Hyde Park.

      Lots of uncertainty once this extended thaw kicks in. American models suggest cold returns to the Northeast late next week, European models are not so sure.

  13. Crossing the congress st bridge was beyond brutal today. I think we warm up for about 7-10 and then boom back to the cold.

    1. Warm-up is pretty much certain, and a long-duration one. `Back to cold,’ however, is far from certain. I wouldn’t count on it, however much I’d like to have it. I’m allergic to 40s and showers, especially in January!

      Btw, strange to have such a long duration warm-up at the traditionally coldest portion of the winter.

  14. I think you will be surprised with how quick the cold comes back. You can see it re-loading in Canada. I agree warm spell with linger but not through the end of the month. Looking for change back to the cold around the 20th give or take

  15. Tom you had an official Blizzard

    000
    NOUS41 KBOX 072001
    PNSBOX
    CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-026-NHZ011-012-015-RIZ001>008-082200-

    PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
    NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
    300 PM EST TUE JAN 07 2014

    …BLIZZARD OF 2014 IN SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS…

    BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WERE REACHED AT FOUR LOCATIONS IN SOUTHEASTERN
    MASSACHUSETTS DURING THE STORM THAT OCCURRED ON JANUARY 2 AND 3.
    THUS IT IS SAFE TO CALL THIS A BLIZZARD.

    THE STRICT DEFINITION OF A BLIZZARD IS THAT FALLING AND/OR BLOWING
    SNOW REDUCES VISIBILITY TO BELOW 1/4 MILE ALONG WITH WINDS THAT
    FREQUENTLY GUST TO 35 MPH OR MORE… AND THAT THESE CONDITIONS ARE
    THE PREDOMINANT REPORTED CONDITION FOR 3 CONSECUTIVE HOURS.

    WHEN REVIEWING WHETHER A PARTICULAR OBSERVATION LOCATION HAD
    BLIZZARD CONDITIONS…WE COUNTED VISIBILITIES EQUAL TO 1/4 MILE
    SINCE THAT IS QUITE LOW FOR AN AUTOMATED VISIBILITY SENSOR TO BE
    ABLE TO DETECT.

    AT HYANNIS…BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OCCURRED FROM 543 AM TO 849 AM ON
    JANUARY 3.

    AT MARSHFIELD…BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OCCURRED FROM 555 PM JANUARY 2
    TO 635 AM ON JANUARY 3.

    AT FALMOUTH…BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OCCURRED FROM 335 AM TO 855 AM ON
    JANUARY 3.

    AT NANTUCKET…BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OCCURRED FROM 729 AM TO 418 PM ON
    JANUARY 3. AT NANTUCKET…THE VISIBILITY REDUCTIONS AT TIMES
    WERE MORE FROM BLOWING SNOW THAN FALLING SNOW WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR
    SOME OF THE HIGHER CEILINGS THAT WERE REPORTED.

    IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT NEAR-BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WERE OBSERVED AT
    CHATHAM AND PROVINCETOWN BUT VISIBILITY REDUCTIONS WERE NOT AS
    PERSISTENT.

    $$
    GAF/RLG

    1. Thanks hadi, I think if winds were a little higher here, we would have had brief Blizzard conditions, winds here did not reach criteria

  16. Sure we’ve had a few cold snaps, but I dont think we can consider this winter cold yet until we see some real sustained cold set up shop over the NE US. We get glancing shots but it hasnt been for more than a couple days at a time. The warm ups have been far longer duration. I will say the few cold shots we’ve had have been the coldest we’ve seen in several years, but nothing unprecedented.

      1. True. However, we did have sustained cold in January and February of 2011. Nothing brutal or extremely cold, but a nice, long stretch of real winter without the thaw hiccups and rain. That 6-week stretch may be my all-time favorite. Nice snowstorms, beautiful snow-pack, and just wintry the whole time.

  17. Hmmmm – did anyone else notice there is a bit of a nip in the air today ??

    I took the dog out and had to come back in for a jacket.

  18. Personally, I think the last 6 weeks have been cold and snowy, w/ last nights small squall, we r at exactly 18.0 inches for the winter to date, we should be at about 12 inches of snow to date. I think we have been below normal temp wise also, idk since meteorgical winter has begun, I’ve felt it to be a good ole fashion winter to this point. 🙂

    1. Well this time I tend to agree with you. I think when all is done this entire winter will be looked at as a good old fashioned winter with both cold and snow, a ton of winter left unfortunately.

  19. I think this will be the coldest part of the winter. The rest will be normal to above temp wise and Boston does not recieve more than 6″ of snow.

  20. With January averaging colder than normal through the 10th, the mild pattern that arrives on the 11th and lasts until about the 18th will be considered the “January thaw”. Canada reloads quickly. The supply of Arctic air is beyond plentiful, and around January 18-19 I see us plunging back into another deep freeze in the Northeast.

      1. At work today I had Polar Cola. I think Polar should introduce a soda called Polar Vortex. They’ll make a ton.

  23. I’d be shocked if Boston only got 6 inches of snow the remainder of this winter. February alone is good for at least 6 inches, almost every year. And, there’s certainly time left this month, although the thaw will be a long duration thaw. And since we’ve already had several `thaws’ in recent weeks with accompanying rain, I’m not exactly thrilled about yet another one. This said, it’s been below average this winter in terms of temperature and above average in terms of snowfall. I would not characterize this, however, as an `old-fashioned’ winter as the snows have not stuck around long at all (a little bit like last year – very disappointing), and the ice has been similarly spotty. Plus, there’s been plenty of rain to contend with and at least 5 days of 50-plus weather.

  24. There are years Boston barely got over 6 inches the entire winter.
    There are years when Boston got under 6 inches from now to the end of winter.
    There are years when Boston got over 60 inches from now to the end of winter.
    Anything can happen, and none of it should be a surprise, frankly.

    It’s the way of the weather. It varies greatly.

    1. Good points, TK. Weather does vary from year to year. It’s fickle and somewhat unpredictable despite improvements in the short-, medium-, and long-range models. Still, I’ll be stubborn and say I’d be surprised if we get less than 6 inches of snow from now until the end of winter.

      1. I agree. The way it’s been going I see us going finishing way above normal. Man is it cold out tonight.

  26. If I were to make an educated guess of how much more snow will fall, I’d guess between 15-20 inches, but who knows

  27. The current water temp at Boston Buoy = 41.2F

    I would love to know why Pete (Ch. 7) continues to show the water temp at 34F. Boy, I wish it really was that low…a stiff east wind would most certainly keep Boston all snow. 😉

    I do recall a number of years ago Boston had a gentle but continuous due east wind, yet remained all snow for the entire duration of the storm and picked up a few to several inches. The Boston Buoy water temp that winter was unusually low (36F IIRC). The temps for this particular storm fluctuated between 30-32 and never got to 33 or higher. Of course, just inland remained safely in the 20s.

    1. 34F would be almost unheard of for the temperature at the Boston Buoy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it that low. Perhaps it got that cold in January 2004, but probably not. As you mentioned, 36F is very cold for the temperature at that Buoy.

    2. It’s actually quite easy for a place like Boston to stay all snow with an onshore wind with ocean water temps above freezing. The ocean temp does not always translate to the air temp. If the air advecting in is cold enough, it overcomes any moderating influence from the ocean water.

  28. If one more person in the media says that we are having more extreme events, I’m going to lose it.

    WE ARE NOT HAVING ANY MORE EXTREME EVENTS GLOBALLY THAN WE EVER HAVE!

    STATISTICS DO NOT LIE!

    Hurricanes are NOT stronger.

    Typhoons are NOT stronger.

    There are NOT MORE TORNADOES (if anything there have been less the last few years).

    The sensationalism has to stop.

    The weather has not gone crazy. It’s doing what it always does.

  29. TK – Am I correct that a persistent SE, S or SW wind would make it virtually impossible to remain all snow in Boston or even stick for that matter?

    1. During a synoptic scale storm systems it would be difficult for Boston with those winds, though it has happened.

  30. And as I just read this, NEW spends 6 min’s on the POLAR VORTEX, and brings in a special person to explain why this is happening, AND explains on a special graphic just how rare it is. Like I’ve said before these r not just 1 or 2 stations, this is just about all of them, 100’s of millions r watching and believing this crap. I saw earlier today on a news stations interviewing a resident, he was saying how HISTORIC this has been, and will never forget the winter of the 2013-14 POLAR VORTEX LOL, have a good night tk 🙂

  31. TK, unfortunately the media needs its ratings as I am sure you know. The fact that the nation has had a number of cold days and a cold winter gives rise to sensationalism. This past week it’s the Polar Vortex and this coming weekend when it’s around 50 for 4 days, we will listen to new explanations of Global Warming.

    This will be followed by colder weather a little later this month because of the Polar Vortex, no doubt, and I believe we may see snow in late Jan/early Feb which of course can only be due to Extreme Weather. 🙂 🙂 🙂

    3. It’s sad they are lumped in with the entertainment industry part of TV, in terms of ratings. But you’re right.

  32. Spring like game in Foxboro Saturday night, I do like that wind is being added in !!

    Those dome quarterbacks dont like the wind. 🙂 🙂

    I think our outdoor QB can handle it. 🙂 🙂

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