The following forecast is provided by Kathy Austin, in conjunction with the instructor, as part of lab work for the Introduction to Meteorology course:
Summary: It will remain quite cool for the next several days as a cold trough (southward dip in the jet stream) remains over our region. The surface low remnant of Sandy will continue to weaken and move slowly north and surface high pressure presently over Canada will begin to slowly build down from the northwest as the trough progresses eastward over the weekend. As a result, we can expect below normal temperatures over the weekend and into early next week. It will remain quite cloudy through Saturday but should brighten somewhat on Sunday as high pressure begins to build in. The risk of any remaining scattered light rain and/or snow showers will also diminish with time. The only real forecast puzzle is how much sun we get on Sunday. Right now it appears that it will start out fairly cloudy very early with decreasing cloudiness through the morning. However, clouds likely will build up again somewhat during the afternoon as the “suicidal” sunshine creates enough instability to generate some additional clouds. Overall it should average out partly sunny. Still, if the high pressure system and its associated atmospheric descent advances over Berkshire County a little more than expected, the synoptic descent (large-scale descent) may be enough to quash any convective ascent generated by the sun and we could end up with a fairly sunny day on Sunday.
Friday Night
Mostly cloudy and seasonably cold. There is the chance of light snow and/or rain showers, depending on elevation, mostly during the evening. Probability of precipitation 40% early and then diminishing.
The cloud cover will keep the temperature from dropping too much with low temperatures in the mid 30s in most locations and some low 30s over the elevated terrain.
Northwest winds at 5-10 mph.
Saturday
Generally mostly cloudy (75-99% cloud cover) although it may become partly sunny (50-75% cloud cover) for a time during the late morning and becoming quite breezy. There is only a slight chance of a light snow shower. Probability of precipitation 20%.
Temperature will struggle to rise with high temperature in the low 40s in Pittsfield and North Adams, mid 40s in Great Barrington and Sheffield and only the upper 30s in the elevated terrain and hilltowns. It will feel even colder with not much sun and a strong breeze.
Northwest winds at 15-20 mph with gusts from 25 to 30 mph.
Saturday Night
Partly to mostly cloudy and cold.
Low temperatures near 30 in most locations with upper 20s over elevated terrain.
Northwest winds diminishing to 5-10 mph by midnight.
Sunday
It should start out fairly cloudy early in the morning, with clearing skies over the course of the morning, becoming partly cloudy (25-50% cloud cover) by late morning. Cloud cover in the afternoon is a little uncertain at this time, depending on how close the surface high pressure system gets to Berkshire County. Most likely it will be a little cloudier during the afternoon, partly sunny (50-75% cloud cover) but there is a chance that it could remain partly cloudy (25-50% cloud cover) for most of the afternoon and even clear during the late afternoon as the sun gets lower on the horizon.
It will remain fairly cold although it will feel warmer than Saturday with the additional sun. Temperatures are somewhat dependent on how much sun we receive. High temperatures generally in the low to mid 40s but only near 40 over the elevated terrain and hilltowns.
It will be breezy again with northwest winds of 10-20 mph.