A fast-moving low pressure system will move across southern New England on Tuesday, bringing widespread rain and snow to much of the region. We won't see the heavy precipitation that was predicted early Monday morning, but there will still be some snow this morning after a brief period of rain.
In terms of build-up, I think there will be less build-up on roads than on grass surfaces, since roads are quite warm. The map below shows what I expect, with most areas at the lower end of the scale, but you'll always get a few spots that are more concentrated higher up, especially on the south side of each zone.
The heaviest snow so far has been in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Below are some early reports. Note the rate of 2 inches per hour in Connecticut. This is exactly what I expected in yesterday's forecast, but the change keeps it mostly biased to the south.
Coastal flooding will be minor at high tide this afternoon. This occurs around 1-2pm depending on the exact beach. Flooding is expected to be minor and not unusual for a winter storm.
Travel will be most affected late this morning and into the evening across Cape Cod and parts of southeastern Massachusetts, where the snow will be heaviest and wettest. If you need to travel, most roads are wet or muddy. For metropolitan Boston, the “worst” time will be early this afternoon, but it's still possible to travel.
This is a very fast-moving system, so we expect it to leave Boston probably before sunset and clear the rest of southeastern Massachusetts by 7 p.m.
Skies will clear tonight as temperatures drop into the 20s and any remaining moisture may freeze. Tomorrow will be a typical cold February day with temperatures within a few degrees. He's only had five days where temperatures stayed below freezing in Boston. This makes this winter the warmest on record, compared to the past several winters that didn't have long periods of cold weather.
Another slightly weaker system will arrive Thursday night, bringing light snow or mixed precipitation. Even if there is some buildup on the lighter side, this doesn't seem to be significant. The weekend will be cold and dry with temperatures in the 30s. Arctic air remains trapped in Canada, and so far there are no conclusive signs that it will reach here.
