Thursday's Snowstorm Predicted to Be 'Significant,' 'Disruptable'

The buzz this week on the SouthCoast is all about the predicted snowstorm arriving sometime Thursday.

ABC6 Meteorologist Chelsea Priest joined Michael and Maddie today with the inside scoop on just what to expect for snow across the area.

"(Wednesday looks) pretty quiet during the daytime," Priest said. "You'll have plenty of time to get stuff done, so make sure the snowblower’s working, find the shovels, use the time to prepare."

Priest predicts the first snowfall to be after tomorrow evening's commute, sometime between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

"Snow starts to move in late Wednesday night, and then a good thump of snow continues through midnight, through at least mid-to-late-morning on Thursday," Priest said. "I have much of the area in an 8-12 inch range of snow, so we’re talking about a significant, plowable, disruptive, storm system, that’s for sure."

To ensure safety, Priest said that if you can work from home to do so.

"That morning commute is not something that I would want to be dealing with, and I recommend that people stay off the roads during that time frame," Priest said. "It’s also going to be quite windy outside, so that adds another factor into the snow. You've got the plowing, the drifting snow, so not only do you have the heavy snow falling, visibility becomes a major issue, and when it’s coming down so fast like that during those morning hours, the plows can’t keep up. You know they’re out there working so hard, but it’s so hard for them to keep up when it’s coming down so fast.

The snowfall rate is predicted for about 1-2 inches per hour.

"The farther south and east you go, out towards the Cape and the Islands, things will be a little bit slower, but we’re still talking about a 4-8 inch range," Priest said. "There’s still snow out that way, maybe Nantucket getting a little bit of rain, but all of us getting a good amount of snow accumulating."

Aside from the rapid snowfall, the wind is playing another big factor.

"There is a wind concern, so there could be some power outages," Priest said. "It doesn’t look like especially heavy, wet snow, sometimes that plays another factor, especially the farther inland you go, it’s more light and fluffy, but right along the coast, down towards the Cape, it may be a little of heavier snow, so I think power outages would be more of a concern the farther southeast you go."

Priest predicts the storm should start to wind down through the afternoon on Thursday, so we’re talking about a good amount of time from really late Wednesday night through much of the daytime hours on Thursday.

"I would say by the middle to late afternoon, things are finally starting to wind down," Priest said. "It’s going to be really cold and breezy still, and we’ll be back into some sunshine by Friday, but it’s still going to be pretty cold out."