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Summary: It will be quite cold this week as the broad trough in the jet stream wave pattern that helped generate yesterday’s storm spreads over the eastern U.S., allowing cold, Canadian air to plunge southward and eastward over the Midwest and New England. It will be moderately cold through midweek but become frigid late in the week as a deeper trough in the jet stream pattern generates a deep surface low pressure system along the Mid-Atlantic Coast on Thursday and Friday. This will permit the center of the arctic air mass, presently centered over central Canada to, briefly, plunge southward over New England. I will discuss this late week storm in more detail toward the end of the discussion. First, more about the “immediate” future…..

Skies will be fairly clear overnight and into Tuesday morning as a weak surface high pressure system becomes centered over our region. As this occurs, winds will lighten as the weak pressure gradient towards the center of the high moves over us. As a result, there will be fairly good radiational cooling overnight with temperatures falling well into the low single digits. It may even drop below zero where there is a snow cover over the high country in northeastern parts of the county.

Tuesday will start out fairly sunny but it should cloud up fairly quickly during late morning. A disturbance in the jet stream, presently generating an area of snow showers over Iowa, will rotate through the base of the trough overnight and during the day tomorrow. It will generate a weak surface low pressure system over the Great Lakes overnight. This weak low will move through during the afternoon tomorrow. It is likely that most of the county will see some snow shower activity but accumulations will be light, a dusting to 1″ at most. Weak surface high pressure will again build in for Tuesday night and Wednesday. However, clouds will be on the increase on Wednesday as a another low pressure system approaches from the west.

It looks like we are in for a protracted period of light to moderate snow beginning Wednesday night and not winding down until Friday afternoon as jet stream energy is transferred from the Midwestern surface low to a low pressure system developing along the Mid-Atlantic Coast on Thursday and Thursday night. Fortunately (or unfortunately if you are a snow lover) it looks like the coastal low will not deepen rapidly until it is well east of Cape Cod, although the situation is still somewhat fluid. Right now it looks like an accumulation in the 6-12″ range. Unlike recent storms, this looks like all snow. In fact, it will become frigidly cold as temperatures hover around 10 degrees on Thursday and well down in the single digits during the day on Friday. After the storm departs on Friday night temperatures will plunge well below zero, possibly near record levels in the teens below zero (Record low for Saturday morning is -15). By Sunday temperatures will moderate considerably but another storm system may approach late in the weekend and into early next week.

Monday Night

Clear to partly cloudy and very cold with lightening winds.

Low temperatures generally near zero to the low single digits above zero, single digits below zero over snow covered areas in the elevated terrain.

West-northwesterly winds at 10-15 mph this evening, decreasing to 5-10 mph by midnight, becoming light after midnight.

Tuesday

There will be a fair amount of sunshine early but it will cloud up quickly during the mid to late morning. Overcast with snow showers likely during the afternoon. Probability of precipitation 70%. Any accumulations should be light, a dusting to 1″ at most.

High temperatures near 20 in Pittsfield, Adams, NorthAdams and Williamstown; low 20s in Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington and Sheffield and; upper teens over the elevated terrain.

Light south-southwesterly winds during the morning, increasing to 5-10 mph during the afternoon.

Tuesday Night

Variable cloudiness, breezy and seasonably cold with the chance of a snow flurry.

Low temperatures in the low teens.

West-northwesterly winds at 10-15 mph with occasional gusts to 25-30 mph diminishing to 5-10 mph after midnight.

Wednesday

Increasing cloudiness and quite cold.

High temperatures in the mid to upper teens in Pittsfield, Adams, NorthAdams and Williamstown; upper teens in Lee, Stockbridge, Great Barrington and Sheffield and: low teens over the elevated terrain.

Westerly winds at 5-10 mph.