Double Trouble for Northeast

2 low pressure systems, one near the Great Lakes and another off the eastern seaboard, will head towards the Northeast this Friday and Saturday.

Warm air has surged into the Northeast ahead of these systems and the precipitation will be mainly rain south of Northern New England and New York.  Rain should begin from Maryland and Pennsylvania up through New Jersey during late evening Friday into the overnight hours from the Southwest to Northeast direction.  By Saturday morning, Western Pennsylvania by Pittsburgh and Erie as well as Buffalo New York should change over to snow as cold air moves in on the backside of the Low over the Great Lakes, which should have moved over Lake Huron into Canada by Saturday morning.  The area of New York from Binghamton to Rochester and Syracuse should take long to change over to snow as warm air continues to hold in place due to the low pressure system on the coast line, however, locations in the mountains of the Northern Adirondacks from North of Albany towards Plattsburgh and sections of the Green Mountains near Burlington and Montpelier should be changing over to snow in the higher elevations while Southern New England and Southern counties of Vermont and New Hampshire, including Rutland, Manchester and Nashua should start as rain during this time frame.  Some light snow should be falling North of the concord area into Maine by Lewiston with rain along the coast near Portland.

Precipitation will end in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Southern and Central areas of New Jersey by Saturday afternoon, except for Lake Effect snow on the Southern side of Lake Erie and Mountain induced snow  in the Appalachians as precipitation pulls Northeast with heavy rain in the Boston to Providence corridor and snow moving into Bangor and Houlton Maine.  Precipitation begins to end during the evening and overnight in Southern New England and most of Northern New England South of Houlton Maine with clearing skies for all of the Northeast by Sunday afternoon.

In Massachusetts, Winter Weather Advisories are in effect from 11 PM Friday night until Noon on Saturday from The Eastern Berkshires through Worcester County and Northwest Middlesex County including the Cities of Springfield, Worcester, Lowell and Haverhill in Massachusetts as well as Nashua, Portsmouth, Manchester and Concord New Hampshire.  Light icing will be a problem in these areas and while the Massachusetts areas should transition to rain, areas of New Hampshire will see 2-4 inches of snow on top of the ice.

Areas in New Hampshire near North Conway, over to Portland Maine should see between 3-6 inches of snow on top of some light ice with 4-8 inches as you move towards Rangeley and Greenville Maine including Augusta and Bangor out to Calais.  Areas near Presque Isle and the surrounding region could see 5 to as much as 10 inches in some spots.  Winter Weather Advisories are in place for these regions except for Presque Isle due to timing issues.  The advisories can only go up so far ahead of the precipitation.  Winter Storm Warnings may be needed further north but have not yet been issued.

Robert Millette

Firsthand Weather

Meteorologist