Forecasters predict up to 8 inches of snow, bitter cold on First Night

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Remember that 60-degree Sunday? Forget about it. Winter's coming back with a vengeance. A storm arriving Wednesday morning will drop 4 to 8 inches of snow on Massachusetts, forecasters said today.

Then, when the flakes begin to taper off during the evening, First Night revelers will have to contend with temperatures in the teens and the bite of a cold wind that will make it feel like it's below zero, forecasters said.

"Snow is one thing, but that wind chill is going to be like a one-two punch," said National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Simpson.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency suggested that people take precautions if they have to travel Wednesday, saying the storm will impact both the morning and evening commute.

Simpson advised people to bundle up if they want to ring in the new year at First Night festivities, noting that temperatures in Boston will go from the 20s in the early afternoon to the mid-teens by 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., with wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour. That amounts to a wind chill of about zero. Forecasters say the wind chill could drop to 10 below.

"That wind extracts body heat pretty quickly," Simpson said.

The snow is expected to arrive in central and western Massachusetts by 6 a.m. and fall heavily on the morning commute. Snow could fall 1 to 2 inches per hour between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. In most of the eastern part of the state, except for the island of Nantucket, the snow is expected to arrive by 8 a.m. The snow will fall fastest in that area between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Across the state, winds will shift to the north and pick up, and blowing and drifting snow is possible along with reduced visibility into the early evening hours, the weather service said.

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