Published: February 10,2015
A two-plus week snow siege is smashing records in parts of New England, including Boston, Worcester, Massachusetts and Bangor, Maine.
(MORE: Marcus Sets All-Time Snow Records | Massachusetts State of Emergency)
Surely, this can't keep up much longer, can it? Well, in the immortal words of the late actor Leslie Nielsen in the 1980 movie Airplane, "I am serious ... and don't call me Shirley."
Not one, but two potential snowmakers loom through the upcoming weekend. Here are details on each of them.
(MORE: Expert Analysis | Winter Storm Central)
System #1: Late Wednesday-Early Friday
A powerful arctic cold front plunging out of the Canadian prairies and its vigorous jet stream disturbance will set the stage for more snow later this week.(FORECAST: Coldest Air This Winter Ahead)
Given the system's trajectory, it has been somewhat moisture-starved initially, spreading light to locally moderate snow through parts of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest Tuesday. Light to moderate snow will spread into the Great Lakes through Wednesday and into the Northeast Thursday.
Later Thursday night into Friday, it gets a bit more interesting.
Low pressure will intensify off the coast of southeast New England then head northeast toward Nova Scotia. As always, the question is how close to New England the intensifying low tracks.
Our forecast: We think the deepening surface low will remain far enough offshore to keep the best chance for 6+ inches of snow confined to extreme southeast Massachusetts (Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod). Lighter amounts are anticipated over the rest of New England and the Northeast.
(FORECASTS: Boston | Providence | NYC)
Of course, any shift in the forecast track of the low would mean big changes in the forecast snow totals. Check back with us at weather.com to monitor the forecast trend.
Strong winds behind the arctic front and developing offshore low may produce areas of blowing and drifting snow, given the heavy snowpack in place over New England and parts of Upstate New York.
This isn't the only future snowmaker to watch.
System #2: Valentine's Day Weekend
Only those in the Northeast who love snow and bitter cold will be pleased with Valentine's Day weekend 2015 weather: another arctic cold front, another stripe of snow, another offshore low to monitor.Rinse and repeat, right?
Yes, another arctic front will spread a stripe of mainly light snow from the Great Lakes on Friday into the East on Saturday.
Yes, low pressure will wrap up again off the Eastern seaboard Saturday night into Sunday.
A track near the so-called "40/70 benchmark" (a meteorologist's rule-of-thumb: Many major Northeast snowstorms track near 40 degrees north latitude and 70 degrees west longitude, about 90 miles south of Nantucket Island) would bring yet another threat of heavy snow and strong winds to at least coastal New England.
But you probably know this drill by now. If the low intensifies far enough offshore, however, most of the significant snow will remain offshore.
(MAPS: Ten-Day Forecast)
Our forecast: It is still too soon (4+ days out) to determine whether the offshore low will track close enough to bring heavy snow to parts of New England and the Northeast. If a closer low track (heavier snow) would take place, peak impacts would occur Saturday night into Sunday with the heaviest snow in coastal New England.
Regardless where the low tracks, behind the arctic front and intensifying offshore low, bitterly cold air will settle in, driven by strong winds, leading to dangerous wind chills and areas of blowing and drifting snow. Temperatures may remain stuck in the single digits or, at best, teens much of Sunday in New England, with morning lows in the single digits above or below zero.
(FORECAST: Coldest Air This Winter Ahead)
Keep all this in mind if you have a Valentine's night plans, or are simply trying to clear a path in your driveway or sidewalk in the Northeast this weekend.
Again, check back with us at weather.com and The Weather Channel for the latest on both of these systems.
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