Enjoy the seasonably cool weather on Wednesday because the coldest weather of the season to date, and possibly all winter, is heading for Southern New England late in the workweek. It will be followed by some snow Saturday morning. However, a pretty quick change to rain is likely, and it will be mild and wet Sunday morning.
Wednesday will be partly to mostly sunny with highs in the upper 30s to low 40s. The first surge of cold air arrives Wednesday night with a wind shift to the northwest and possibly a passing snow shower. The temperature dips into the mid 20s by dawn – not terribly cold, but it will not warm much during the day on Thursday. Expect a partly cloudy, blustery day with temps hovering in the 20s.
The true Arctic air rides in on a stronger northwest wind late Thursday night. Once again, there may be passing snow squalls. Winds could briefly gust between 35-50 mph Thursday night. The temperature will fall into the single digits to low teens (coast) by dawn on Friday, and wind chills will be well below zero.
Friday afternoon will feature some sunshine, but highs will not be above the low 20s. A breeze will make it feel like 0-10° for most of the day. We’re tracking a couple of storms for the weekend. Snow develops by dawn on Saturday and lasts for a short time before changing to rain in the afternoon. At this point, it looks like it will last long enough for about an inch of snow at the coast, and near 3″ of snow inland. The change to rain comes as the temperature rises into the 40s at the coast and upper 30s inland. Showers may be heavy Saturday afternoon.
There will be a break in the precipitation Saturday night, with another round of rain likely on Sunday morning. By that point, the temperature may be in the 50s. Rain ends in the early to mid afternoon on Sunday, with cold air quickly returning on a northwest wind. It will fall below freezing Sunday night.
The weather looks quiet and chilly in the early to middle part of next week. Highs will climb from the upper 20s to low 30s on Monday to the upper 30s to low 40s by Wednesday.
