Storm Coordination Message #2 – Thursday Night 12/15/22-Saturday Morning 12/17/22 – Coastal Storm Hazards

Hello to all…

..Coastal Storm will impact Southern New England Tonight through Saturday Morning. The storm will bring the potential for heavy wet snow especially in the higher elevations of Western and Northern Massachusetts and Northwest Connecticut along with the potential for strong winds with heavy rain and strong winds over much of the rest of the region..
..A Winter Storm Warning is now in effect through 7 AM Saturday Morning for Western Franklin, Western Hampshire and Western Hampden Counties of Massachusetts and Hartford County Connecticut for 6-12″ of snow at elevations around and above 1,000 feet with isolated amounts of up to 20″ at elevations around or above 1500 feet. The snow is expected to be heavy and wet and with wind gusts to around 40 MPH could cause scattered to possibly numerous pockets of tree and power line damage and power outages..
..A Winter Weather Advisory is now in effect through 7 AM Saturday for Eastern Franklin and Northern Worcester Counties of Massachusetts for 2-4″ of snow with isolated higher amounts of up to 6″ near the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border and these snow accumulations occurring around or above 1000 feet. The snow will be heavy and wet and coupled with wind gusts to around 40 MPH could cause isolated to scattered pockets of tree and power line damage and power outages..
..It is noted that areas of extreme Northwest Hartford County CT around or above 1,000 feet such as the Hartland and West/East Hartland Connecticut area could see heavy wet snow from this system but it is a very localized area so no winter headlines are in effect for Hartford County Connecticut. 3-6″ of wet snow are possible in this localized area with higher amounts into Litchfield County Connecticut..
..A Wind Advisory is now in effect from 4 AM to 7 PM Friday for Southern Bristol County Massachusetts and Bristol, Newport, and Washington Counties of Rhode Island including Block Island, Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket, 7 AM to 10 PM for Eastern Essex, Southeast Middlesex, Suffolk, Eastern Norfolk, Barnstable, Eastern and Southern Plymouth Counties of Massachusetts for sustained winds of 20-35 MPH with gusts to 50-55 MPH with isolated higher wind gusts at the coast. These winds could cause isolated to scattered pockets of tree and power line damage and power outages..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation with Amateur Radio Call-Up Nets will monitor the storm potential for Thursday Afternoon into Saturday Morning. Pictures and videos of storm damage are always helpful and shared with various groups and can be sent as a reply to this message, via our WX1BOX Facebook/Twitter feeds or to the email address pics@nsradio.org. A shortened coordination message with the Amateur Radio Call-Up Net schedule and a link to this message will be posted by 1000 PM this evening..

A coastal storm system will bring the potential for heavy wet snow and strong winds for portions of Western Massachusetts and Northwest Connecticut particularly in the higher elevations along with heavy rainfall and strong to damaging winds for the remainder of Southern New England. The headlines depict the current thinking. Key factors include:

1.) Just a 1-2 degree difference in temperature could make the difference between heavy rain and heavy wet snow making snow accumulation forecasts difficult. Elevation will also play a role in rain or wet snow or whether the snow is heavy and wet in consistency or a drier snow. This will effect storm impacts in this region with regards to any tree and wire damage and power outages. At this time, a potentially heavy wet snow is expected at elevations around or above 1,000 feet with wind gusts of 40 MPH causing the potential for scattered to numerous pockets of tree and wire damage and power outages.
2.) The Strong winds along with the wet snow have the potential to increase the tree and wire damage and power outage potential presuming the snow is heavy and wet in nature as mentioned above.
3.) A wind swept rain is expected over Eastern New England with the strongest winds at the coast with wind gusts of up to 50-55 MPH with isolated higher wind gusts. Rainfall of 1-3″ is likely with isolated to scattered pockets of wind damage in and around the Wind Advisory area.

SKYWARN Self-Activation with Amateur Radio Call-Up Nets will monitor the storm potential for Thursday Afternoon into Saturday Morning. Pictures and videos of storm damage are always helpful and shared with various groups and can be sent as a reply to this message, via our WX1BOX Facebook/Twitter feeds or to the email address pics@nsradio.org. A shortened coordination message with the Amateur Radio Call-Up Net schedule and a link to this message will be posted by 1000 PM this evening. Below is the NWS Boston/Norton Winter Storm Warning/Winter Weather Advisory Statement with Snow Maps, Wind Advisory statement, and Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:

NWS Boston/Norton Winter Storm Warning/Winter Weather Advisory Statement & Snow Maps:
https://www.weather.gov/box/winter

NWS Boston/Norton Wind Advisory Statement:
https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=NPW&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1&highlight=off

NWS Boston/Norton Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=box

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
https://ares.ema.arrl.org
https://www.wx1box.org