Howling winds will diminish this evening, and the weather will be seasonably cold and bright on Wednesday. Expect a very cold start with clear skies and a sunrise near 7:10 am. The low temperature will range from the mid teens inland to the low 20s at the coast. Sunshine will warm the temperature to near 40 during the afternoon. It will feel much better than Tuesday with a light breeze. Wednesday night does not look as cold, with lows in the 20s – again coldest inland. Expect some sun on Thursday, and a milder afternoon. It will get to near 50 in the afternoon.
Rain arrives by dawn on Friday. It still looks like a wet and windy day. The temperature will soar into the 50s, and southerly winds may gust over 40 mph – especially near the coast in CT and in all of RI and eastern MA. 1-2″ of rain is likely between early Friday and early Saturday. The storm should move away before dawn on Saturday, with steady precipitation ending and the wind calming down.
The weekend looks ok. It will stay mild on Saturday with temps in the 50s. Sunday will be colder with highs not far from 40 under mostly sunny skies. The on-again, off-again Alberta Clipper is still possible for Christmas Eve. The weak system cutting through the Northeast on December 24 could bring a period of light snow during the day.
Right now, the weather looks dry and quiet on Christmas Day. Another Clipper could bring some snow/rain Tuesday night into early Wednesday. These systems are way down the road and thousands of miles away. There are likely to be some changes to the specifics of the Monday-Wednesday forecast. We saw brutally cold weather between Christmas and New Year’s last year. It looks chilly this year, but nowhere near as frigid as the stretch that we endured a year ago.