If you are planning on traveling in New England later today, the weather is likely going to play a role. And this won’t be the last time weather is a factor in your travel before the New Year.

Rain and perhaps some fog are going to add to traffic woes later tonight.

A warm front to our south marks the dividing line between the mild air over us today and the ridiculously warm air (for December) coming tonight and tomorrow.

As the tropical surge of air continues, rain will break out across the region. The rest of the day will be dry, but to our south rain is already occurring. The image below is a loop of the predicted radar through late this evening. Notice how the rain progresses slowly northward, but the yellow colors, the heaviest, remains to our south.

After 10 p.m the heaviest and steadiest rain will arrive and there could be the rumble of thunder. I expect many areas to see half an inch of rainfall with up to a full inch in any potential downpours with thunderstorms. Remember, it’s been a very dry year, so the rain is actually quite welcome.

Muggy Christmas Eve
The humidity will become noticeable and particularly high for late December tomorrow. While it was also mild a year ago, this will feel more like a summer morning when you get up Christmas Eve. Dew points, a measure of humidity in the air, will reach well through the 50s and perhaps near 60 south of Portland. This would be the level when during the summer months you’d start hearing about discomfort.

Christmas Day is mild but dry with more seasonable air slowly filtering into the area. There will be sunshine as well. I’ll call it a Christmas weather gift, but for the ski areas, it’s a lump of coal.

Winter May Appear
This trend continues over the weekend but by Monday of next week it will feel like a December day, not one in May. This could, I repeat could, set the stage for our first chance of wintry weather Tuesday morning.

There is a strong likelihood of another weather system for Dec. 29 lasting into Wednesday, Dec. 30. Since there will be cold air present when any precipitation begins, some snow or mixed precipitation might occur. The exact track, strength and timing of any storm will be critical in determining if wintry weather is a player.

Typically, I wouldn’t even mention this a week ahead of time, however, next week is a vacation week and many of you might have travel plans. You should at least be aware of the possibility for something impacting travel. The best chance would be over inland areas and it does appear any snow would change to rain before ending.

As January arrives, it continues to appear that the month will not bring prolonged outbreaks of arctic air and while it will snow there aren’t any early signs of a parade of storminess.

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