I hope that you enjoyed the 60+ weather on Monday. BIG changes are ahead for Tuesday as rain changes to snow and is followed by the coldest air of the season Tuesday night. The snow will not amount to much, but sub-freezing air charging in behind it could lead to a flash-freeze of any slush or water on pavement Tuesday afternoon/evening.
The timing on precipitation is about 8 am – 1 pm in Connecticut and 10 am – 3 pm in Rhode Island. The first 2-3 hours of precipitation will likely be rain before a change to snow with temperatures still above freezing. This will not be a big snow event with less than an inch of snow likely in all of CT, RI and SE MA. Most of the snow will likely not stick well to the wet and relatively warm pavement. The concern is for the hard-charging cold air that moves in as soon as the snow moves out.
Most of CT except for the immediate Shoreline should fall to 32 degrees or colder by 4 pm. It will fall below 32 in Rhode Island between 5-7 pm, and a bit later in Southeastern Massachusetts. Watch out for some slick spots if you’re heading out at night.
This is the coldest air of the season to date and the coldest since early-March to reach Southern New England. Expect lows in the teens to low 20s Wednesday morning, but wind chills will be in the single digits to low teens because of a fresh northwest wind. The temperature will struggle to get above freezing on Wednesday with dry skies.
Thursday is not as cold, but still quite chilly for mid-November. Look for highs near 40 after starting in the teens to mid 20s. It will get close to 50 on Friday before another cold front brings the chill back for the weekend. Saturday is in the low-mid 30s, and Sunday is in the low 40s. Normal mid-November high temperatures are in the low-mid 50s.
If you think all of this cold weather is coming way too soon, then you’ll be happy to know that Tuesday looks like our last brush with snow for a while. There is nothing coming down the pike later this week or for most of next week. The temperature will gradually moderate to near normal by the middle of next week.