Another weather system is coming to the Boston area — but don’t expect a high-impact storm in most of the region.
A few flakes flying across the area this afternoon are the precursor to more significant precipitation this evening and overnight. This will not be a big snowmaker. Rather, we are going to see a windswept soaking rain developing after a little bit of snow.
Most of the snow will fall in Greater Boston between 5 and 8 p.m. I'm generally expecting a coating up to an inch around Logan airport, and 1 to 3 inches toward Route 128 and the Route 495 belt. Further north, there could be 3 to 5 inches of snow.
Temperatures will be increasing overnight — opposite of what you'd expect — as a strong southerly flow of air propels mild temperatures northward. Readings by morning will be near or even a little above 50 degrees from Boston South and in the 40s elsewhere.
The transition from snow to rain happens quickly this evening. The #HRRR model is moving the rain north to the Route 2 area by about 10 PM. pic.twitter.com/l7hPxRmubw
— Dave Epstein (@growingwisdom) January 25, 2023
Anyone who receives less than 3 inches of snow from Wednesday's weather system will see it likely disappear as temperatures warm, but areas with higher amounts may be left with a little bit of slush.
Thursday's rain will be heavy at times and may lead to urban street flooding, basement flooding and even some minor river flooding. The rain will come to an end during the mid- to late morning, then temperatures will slowly tumble back toward 40 degrees by dark.
Any remaining slush can refreeze as temperatures fall back to the 20s by sunrise Friday. But sunshine will be prevalent during the day with readings in the 30s, and then it's back into the 40s for Saturday and Sunday. Clouds increase on Sunday as some more rain and snow showers arrive early next week.
If you are feeling like this has been a particularly cloudy month, you are correct. It's one of the cloudiest Januaries on record — and those records go back to the 1950s.
