Just a day after a nor’easter finished battering parts of Massachusetts with more than 20 inches of snow, forecasters are already predicting more unsettled weather in the days ahead.
Light snowfall is expected Friday, particularly across higher elevations in the commonwealth. There’s the possibility that a coastal storm will bring heavy precipitation over the weekend into Monday too before Arctic air invades much of the Northeast next week, forecasters said.
The unseasonably cold airmass will begin to sweep through Massachusetts at the beginning or middle of next week. Lows may dip into the single digits or teens multiple days in a row. Highs are only expected to climb into the 20s, according to Kevin Cadima, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston/Norton office.
“It’s certainly going to be getting colder. We don’t know how far south the true Arctic air is going to get, but we’re certainly trending toward colder weather next week,” Cadima said.
Forecasters’ predictions for the week ahead are subject to significant variability so many days out, Cadima noted. Although there is higher confidence of an Arctic airmass moving into the state next week than a coastal storm arriving this weekend, questions still linger about how cold the weather will get.
Meteorologists said some of the chilliest weather of the season may soon be expected across the United States, though. What has been a mild week in terms of temperatures will take a turn for the colder toward the weekend, with Arctic air spilling into the middle of the country later this week.
The bitterly cold Arctic airmass should first move into central U.S. on Friday and push eastward through the weekend into next week, according to the Weather Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“For much of the country from the northern Plains to Ohio Valley, the coldest temperatures of the season will be likely and a few daily records could be in jeopardy, the Weather Prediction Center said.
Below-freezing highs will be common across northern United States, and many locations in North Dakota and Minnesota should remain well below zero degrees for days, according to the prediction center. Bone-chilling temperatures should sweep east and move into the Northeast in the days after.
“A piece of the polar vortex is expected to drop across the upper Midwest. It might cross the Northeast and New England as it weakens by late next week,” Cadima said. “But we’re talking eight to 10 days out, that’s beginning to stretch the science.”
Before the Arctic air arrives next week, light winter precipitation is expected Friday. Snow accumulations are mainly forecast across higher elevations in the interior of the state, including the Berkshires and Worcester Hills, where as much as 1 to 3 inches is possible, according to the weather service. Much of the rest of the state should see less than an inch to no accumulations at all.
Precipitation will start off as snow in many locations early Friday and quickly transition to rain as warm air moves in along the coast and elsewhere. There are some uncertainties regarding the timing and magnitude of the warming, the weather service said.
A dry slot punches in Friday night into Saturday morning as the cold front lifts northeast of the region Dry, breezy and quiet weather returns Saturday across New England. It likely won’t last long, though, according to forecasters.
The weather service is still monitoring for the a potential coastal storm Sunday into Monday, noting it’s too early to determine precipitation types given uncertainties surrounding the track of the system.
“Right now, our model guidance is suggesting there’s going to be a significant coastal storm. The big question is where it’s going to track,” Cadima said. “It looks like it’s going miss Massachusetts, but there’s a potential it could swing back. It’s still far enough away.”
The energy that’s producing the storm is out in the Pacific Ocean, so the “wobbles and changes” in the forecast that meteorologists are currently seeing are expected to continue, according to Cadima.
“We’re still early enough in the game that it could change,” he added.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the potential storm, the Weather Prediction Center is saying heavy snow could hit portions of the Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes and Northeast on Monday.
Two impulses of “upper-level energy” could lead to a strong surface cyclone riding up the eastern seaboard from the Mid-Atlantic to New England between Sunday and Monday, according to the center.
“This scenario would lead to widespread heavy snow for much of the major cities from Virginia to Maine,” the center said. “However, there is the potential that the timing of these two pieces of energy don’t align, and only a weak surface wave brings light snowfall.”
The forecast is subject to change more than 72 hours out.
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