The snowstorm that will hit Massachusetts Sunday night takes shape as a coastal low that tracks near the benchmark.
The benchmark is at 40/70 on coordinates on a map, where we can pinpoint the severity of a storm and how big of an impact it will have in the Northeast.
This storm is pretty quick-moving, so this is a moderate to high impact storm in terms of snowfall, without the coastal flooding or widespread wind damage.
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See winter storm warnings in your area here and track the storm with live radar here:
Winter storm timing and snow totals:
The entire day remains dry, with some clouds and pretty calm conditions. But late afternoon, the storm strengthens off the Carolina coast and heads northeast.
By 2 p.m., a few snow showers move into Connecticut.
As the low strengthens and passes by offshore Sunday evening, it swings in more wind and snow.
Boston’s main snow event looks to be from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. Monday.
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The coastal front sets up across Cape Ann, Boston and Providence, and that means the Cape sees all rain Sunday evening, while northwest of Interstate 495, it’s all snow. That rain/snow line then moves southeast overnight.
The back half of the storm is where we get the coating to 2 inches of snow for the Cape & Islands with slush.
Meanwhile in Boston, we see steady snowfall for several hours and for areas inland Sunday night.
Snow rates will reach as high as 1-2 inches per hour across New England.
By Monday morning, we plow out of 4-8 inches of snow in Boston, and some areas will pick up 8 inches of snow north and west of Route 128 based on fluffier snow consistency inland.
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The storm tapers and moves away early Monday morning. This leads to more arctic air and highs in the 20s by afternoon.
Temperatures will crash down as early as midnight in Boston, to the teens by sunrise Monday. Watch for icy roads and quick snow accumulations then.
Wind and coastal impacts:
As is typical with an offshore low, we have a period of northeast wind gusts from 4 p.m. to midnight.
The pressure center lowers enough for gusts up to 30-40 mph at the coast, with inland spots up to 20 mph overnight Sunday. While this isn’t quite damaging wind, it will be a nuisance wind on top of period of heavy snow.
Massachusetts road crews started preparing a day early for the winter storm expected to bring 4-8 inches of snow to the Boston area, says Jonathan Gulliver, MassDOT’s highway administrator.
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The wind turns more north, northwest from midnight to sunrise Monday, with gusts 40-45 mph across Cape Cod.
The shoreline will see some erosion on beaches when waves increase Monday morning as the low departs to the Canadian Maritimes. No coastal flooding is expected since tides are astronomically low.
10-day weather outlook:
Prepare for some wicked cold after the storm leaves.
The coldest air in two years creeps in Monday, with highs in the 20s, but there’s more.
Highs fall to the teens Tuesday and Wednesday, with lows around zero in southern New England. Wind chills are expected to be below zero Tuesday through Thursday.
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We modify temps later next week as nearby storm systems bring in some precipitation chances to the northeast.
