Weather

Here’s David Epstein’s updated forecast for Friday’s snowstorm

Much of the heaviest snow will be over by noon.

David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe

By Dave Epstein, The Boston Globe

updated on January 7, 2022

The first snowstorm of winter was well underway before sunrise on Friday with heavy bands of snow pushing across parts of Southern New England and lighter snow elsewhere. In some places, snowfall rates amounted to 1 to 2 inches an hour.

The radar loop below gives a good idea of where these heavy bands were around 7 a.m. Notice the orientation of this heavy precipitation runs from roughly Providence through Boston and onto Cape Ann. The longer this pattern continues, the more likely it is that this is the area that will end up with the most snow.

Bands of heavy snow in yellow were pushing across Greater Boston early Friday. – NOAA

Boston Snow Forecast:

Much of the heaviest snow will be over by noon, with some lighter flakes for a few hours thereafter, especially along the coastline. For those of you who will be clearing the snow, you might see up to an inch or two in the afternoon hours.

By 2 p.m., snow is forecast to be over in most of the area, but it will linger over eastern areas. – WeatherBELL

Winds will not be particularly strong in this system, although it does become a bit breezy this afternoon as the storm intensifies and heads up into Eastern Canada. The map below shows a 5 to 9 inch swath of snow expected for much of the area. There are usually exceptions within the bands of predicted snowfall, and I could see some higher localized amounts, especially in the area I note in white.

Most areas will see up to 9 inches of snow, but there could be isolated pockets of higher totals. – David Epstein

Over Cape Cod, expect a mix of rain and snow depending on where you are. It’s likely that the rain ends as snow over the entire outer Cape, and this is when most of the accumulation would occur.

Travel will improve later this afternoon. We might even see some breaks of sunshine before the sun sets. Overnight, with the fresh snow cover and clearing skies, temperatures will fall down into the teens. It will look and feel like winter on Saturday with highs only near 30 and the bright sunshine bouncing off the freshly fallen snow. Don’t forget your sunglasses.

A weak weather system will push through on Sunday with perhaps some slick travel west of the coastline early in the afternoon. Any precipitation will come to an end Sunday night followed by a cold sunny day Monday. Arctic air will arrive Monday night with readings falling into the single digits and staying under 20 degrees all day Tuesday, along with that dreaded windchill. Wednesday is likely the coldest morning of the winter so far before a moderate trend begins in the afternoon.