GRAY, MAINE – A wobbly, meandering storm front is heading our way, but it’s too soon to say just how much snow it will bring. As of Monday night the most accurate guesstimate is 3-4 inches, give or take, says National Weather Service meteorologist John Cannon. He was working the late shift Monday night, waiting for more information.
“This is a difficult one to predict. No data – just a couple of bouys out there right now, but it looks like Manchester is looking at three to four inches Wednesday into Wednesday night,” says Cannon. That’s a low confidence forecast.”
Meaning, it could be more. Or less.
The issue is that this particular front is cut off from the jet stream, and that causes the “wobble.”
“Like a hurricane moves within a river with no banks, the jet stream’s not pulling it along, so it can meander in different directions. It’s not in a strong wind-flow steering pattern. We’re hoping for a better idea of what it will bring sometime tonight,” says Cannon. “This one’s been stubborn and somewhat unpredictable.”
Right now the storm is producing severe weather, and possibly tornadoes, in the deep south, Cannon says. By Tuesday it will develop off the mid-Atlantic coastline, and it will be our fourth nor’easter of the season.
“The challenge is on Wednesday just how far north it will go before it moves out to sea.
The 10-day outlook will continue to bring cold air right through the end of March, which increases the potential for flooding, says Cannon. Ideally, temperatures in southern New Hampshire will inch into the 40s so that the snowpack can gradually melt or dissipate through sublimation, an evaporation process.