Winter Is Coming to the SouthCoast: Here’s When to Expect the First Snowfall

It officially happened. I woke up to frost on my windshield and the snowflake icon on my dashboard telling me that winter is quickly approaching, and my remote car starter will become my best friend again. It’s typical for New England to see drastic climate changes by the hour, but October was abnormally mild, so the thought of snow hit me like a blizzard.

After looking over the Farmer’s Almanac, I think we need to prepare for snow sooner rather than later.

“If you didn’t like last winter’s somewhat boring weather in the Northeast, you may be happy to hear what we are predicting for 2021,” said Sandi Duncan, managing editor for Farmer's Alamanc. This year, winter is being called “The Great Divide” due to the cold and snowy conditions in the north, drought in the west, and everything crazy in-between. The Northeast should get ready for a cold winter, with below-normal temperatures, and the potential for above-normal amounts of snowfall.

This may not be what you want to hear, but Mother Nature may be paying a wintery visit a little more frequently than last year.

Christmas is usually the one day that we all can agree upon that we hope for a delightful snowfall. We all dream of a white Christmas, but how likely is it?

According to Weatherworks, which defines a white Christmas as “having a snow depth on the ground of one inch or greater,” Massachusetts has a 19 percent chance. But the chances of snow falling on Christmas Day and eventually accumulating, the percentage shoots up to 35 percent.

So while we all pray for a white, snowy Christmas, most of us will be dreading the first day of shoveling and sanding the steps on the SouthCoast. According to Weatherworks and Weather Underground, these are reported first snowfalls for Massachusetts for the past five years.

10/30/20: 4.3 inches

12/01/19: 0.1 inches

11/15/18: 0.1 inches

12/09/17: 0.1 inches

12/15/16: 0.01 inches

The pattern is just as sporadic as the New England fall temperatures, but if the Farmer's Almanac is correct, the SouthCoast is in for a white winter.