Today’s weather will be overseen by the passage of a coastal low well to our southeast. This storm will be too far away to bring us into any heavy snow bands, but it will come close enough for the entire area to feel colder temps and breezy NNE winds, and some places along the midcoast and NH seacoast will see some light snow. Total snow accumulations will range from a dusting (if any) in Southern NH to possibly as much as 1-2″ in the Rockland-Camden area. NNE winds are bringing in not just a colder airmass, but also a drier one, which will keep everyone away from the immediate coast dry, and could even prevent places like the 295 corridor from Portland to Brunswick from seeing snow. Be sure to watch the HD radar products on weather.us to stay ahead of the snow today. If you follow that link, click the map to zoom in to county level to track the snow town by town.
The first of two cold fronts that will move through the region today has made it offshore this morning, bringing last night’s light rain to an end. The second front is currently in the Saint Lawrence river valley, and will arrive in Maine and New Hampshire this afternoon. Westerly winds behind the first front will shift northwesterly behind the second, and the combination will allow for warm temps and developing sunshine throughout the part of the area downslope of the mountains. Some of the higher terrain will see more cloudiness, though even there some sunshine is expected.
Temperatures this morning are very warm across much of the area, with upper 30’s and lower 40’s widespread. As downsloping and sunshine both develop this afternoon, expect those temps to bump up a little bit to the low 40’s in the north and upper 40’s to near 50 in the south. Cooler temps will arrive after that second front pushes offshore this evening. Some flurries are possible in the north as that front moves through, but otherwise I’m not expecting any precipitation today.
Much colder weather is in store for today as Arctic-adjacent air pours into the area from the Northwest. I hesitate to call this Arctic air, as it pales in comparison to the bone chilling cold of the Christmas-New Year’s period, but compared to the past week or so of January Thaw weather, it will be pretty chilly. Look for highs in the single numbers north and 10’s south. Winds out of the NW won’t be quite as strong as yesterday, but it won’t take much of a breeze to make the chilly temps feel even colder. As for sky cover and precipitation, those NW winds and their upslope/downslope pattern will once again rule the day with sunny skies and dry weather downwind of the mountains and a mix of sun and clouds along with occasional snow showers in the higher terrain.
Today will feature the beginning of a temporary return to colder air behind the cold front that departed behind yesterday’s icy system. The NW winds behind the front will set up our classic upslope/downslope weather pattern. Along the coastal plain, downsloping winds will warm and dry the atmosphere to allow for partly to mostly sunny skies and highs a few degrees above freezing. In the mountains, upsloping will result in clouds, periods of light-moderate snow, and highs in the low-mid 20’s. Some of the higher terrain typically favored for upslope could see up to an inch or two of snow through the day tomorrow. NW winds will be gusty at times, and where ice remains on the trees, watch for continued power outage concerns due to the ice and wind.
Forecasterjack 