Strap in for this week’s weather ‘roller coaster’
Be ready for snow, rain and some sun
A cold, wet start to the week that brought snow to parts of western Massachusetts overnight Sunday will give way to sunnier skies and warmer temperatures by the end of the week, but meteorologists are telling people to keep their umbrellas close by.
“It’s a little bit of up and down weather this week — follow the roller coaster,” said William Babcock, a meteorologist at National Weather Service’s Boston office.
After a weekend of downpours, another cold front housed in the Eastern Great Lakes moved through overnight Sunday as temperatures dropped in parts of Worcester and the Berkshires.
“Temperatures may have cooled off enough that a few of those showers turned over into mixed rain with snow,” Babcock said. “There’s a shocker for you — it’s only mid-november.”
Babcock said the rain and potential snow would move out “around the start of rush hour” but could still impact the Mondaymorning commute, warning “people should be ready” for wet roads.
The weather is forecast to improve throughout the day before becoming “gusty” in the afternoon as
winds pick up from the west.
A “cool” early part of the week will start in the mid30s, climbing up to the low 40s on Tuesday and into the mid-50s on Wednesday, according to National Weather Service forecasts.
“The next nice day is Thursday, which will be a sunny day and temperatures will climb into the mid- 60s,” Babcock said.
But the warm, sunny weather is destined to be short-lived, with Babcock predicting another cold front will come through by Thursday evening, bringing a chance of showers.
The rain will clear out for a mostly sunny Friday and Saturday, but Babcock said temperatures would be cooler — sinking down into the mid-40s.
Taking a look at the weather system that blew
through the region on Saturday, NWS field scientists were able to confirm on Sunday that two tornadoes touched down in Rhode Island the day before.
The twisters wound through “extreme” southeast Connecticut and southern Rhode Island.
The NWS rated one as an EF-1 in Westerly, R.I., and another as an EF- 0 in
North Kingstown, R.I.
A November tornado is extremely rare in the area.
“Since 1950, there has never been a tornado recorded in CT or RI in the month of November,” according to the weather service.
Massachusetts last recorded a November tornado on Nov. 7, 1971, the NWS said.