A prolonged cold snap is underway in Southern New England, and the Arctic air will continue funneling in until Thursday morning, meaning the coldest days and nights are still ahead. The temperature will nosedive from the low 20s to the single digits to low teens by dawn under mainly clear skies Tuesday night. The wind will stay active, knocking wind chills below zero. CT, RI and SE MA will see wind chills between 0 and -10. Central and Western MA may see wind chills as low as -15 to -18 by early Wednesday morning.
- Snow totals from Monday night in Southern New England
- Today marks the 8th anniversary of the January, 2005 blizzard
Wednesday is shaping up to be the coldest day in the Providence area in exactly two years. The last time the daily temperature was 14° below normal was January 23, 2011. With a low in the upper single digits, and a high in the mid to upper teens, tomorrow will be about 14-18° colder than normal in the Providence area. It will also be a breezy day. That will help to keep the wind chill hovering near zero all day long.
The weather will stay bitter cold on Thursday. Wednesday night looks even colder than Tuesday night as winds relax and the temperature falls to near zero inland and the mid to upper single digits from Providence to the coast. Thursday will be dry and very cold. Once again, the high temperature will struggle to reach 20 degrees – even with mostly sunny skies. The temperature will drop into the single digits to low teens again Thursday night.
More snow likely Friday night
Clouds will increase during the day Friday as another storm approaches from the southwest. The exact track and intensity of the storm is still very much in question, but it has the potential to be a significant snowstorm in Southern New England. Some computer models, however, favor a scenario where the storm slides rather harmlessly out to sea south of Southern New England. Right Weather Pro members can see Fred Campagna’s analysis of the computer model trends.
At this point, it looks like there will be some snow Friday night into early Saturday. With plenty of cold air in place, it will be a dry, fluffy snow similar to what fell Monday night. Therefore, it will not take a lot of liquid precipitation to produce a few inches of snow. Fred Campagna will have a first look accumulation map for Right Weather Pro members on Wednesday.
As the storm departs, a reinforcing shot of cold air will move in from the north. The temperature may fall into the single digits inland again Saturday night. The weather looks dry from Saturday afternoon into early next week.
