Bostonians brace for a light dusting today and punishing cold this weekend as a storm system skims by the south of Massachusetts. Snow is on the forecast, albeit less than a half inch, but it's the biting winds whistling in from the north that'll really get Boston's teeth chattering, as the National Weather Service warns. The high today barely scrapping 29 degrees and snow is likely, particularly in the late afternoon.
As night falls, a 30 percent chance of flurries wraps up before 7 p.m., leading into an icy evening with the mercury plummeting to 13 degrees and wind chills flirting with zero, as NWS reported. Looking to Saturday, the forecast only seems to grow more grim: mostly cloudy skies coupled with a high of just 19 and wind gusts that could cramp to 20 mph.
NBC Boston signals that this is just a glimpse of a recurring theme this winter, as Massachusetts prepares for another round of lacy snowflakes spiraling down this Friday. Coastal communities are the ones to watch, with a "tricky storm system" ushering in ocean effect snow that could pad the South Shore with 1 to 3 inches, according to NBC Boston. The wind's harsh breath will persist, delivering punishing chills Saturday night, sometimes reaching a bone-chilling 5 degrees below zero.
The outlook for warmer weather is tenuous. While a moderate climb to 38 degrees is expected by Monday, two stubborn cold high-pressure systems are predicted to squash any sustained rise in temperature. NBC Boston cautions to keep expectations in check, foreseeing temperatures dipping back into the 30s by Tuesday with chances of mixed precipitation later that night. Another whisper of warmth teases with Thursday's near 50 degrees, but with that, promises of rain also loom, muddling the hopes for a clear sky.
