I am writing this from the Delta Sky Club in Terminal B of the busiest airport in the world – Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, GA. Today is among the busiest travel days of the year, and the airport is buzzing. Planes take off every other minute as I look out the window. The weather here is great after some morning showers from the big storm system that brought heavy snow to Denver and the Upper Midwest. That same storm will bring showers to Providence when I land in a few hours. It’s not a huge hassle for the Northeast since the main effects will be rain and gusty winds, instead of snow. Those winds, however, could be enough to ground the balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade tomorrow – although I think you’ll see Snoopy and friends hovering over the Big Apple.
The weather in the wake of the storm system will be relatively quiet and chilly for Thanksgiving and Black Friday in Southern New England. Thursday looks blustery with temperatures in the 40s, but feeling colder due to a 15-35 mph breeze. Expect a cold Black Friday with lows in the 20s to near 30 and highs in the upper 30s to low 40s. Skies will be mainly clear with a 15-25 mph wind. The temperature dips into the low 20s by dawn on Saturday as it stays clear. Look for sunshine on Saturday, but the temperature will stay in the 30s.
The storm that we alerted you to earlier this week is more likely to be mainly rain than mainly snow in Southern New England. Some snow cannot be ruled out, but the track will likely be close enough for a cold rain or mixed precipitation event in the I-95 corridor. There are still a lot of questions as to how the storm evolves, and I’ll nail down the forecast after putting away a nice meal and dessert on Thanksgiving.
It could be a long-duration event that lingers through Monday. Right now, I’m leaning towards a brief period of snow/mix on Sunday followed by mainly rain Sunday night and then rain/snow showers on Monday. The best chance of snow accumulation is in the high terrain of NW CT and Worcester County. The x-factor with this event is whether a secondary storm will develop south of New England early Monday and draw in colder air leading to snow on Monday into Monday night for part of the area. At this point, I’m not betting on that scenario. I think it’s more likely that the bulk of the precipitation comes from the primary storm passing by Sunday into Sunday night, and most of that looks like rain.
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for supporting Right Weather!
