Some of you might remember Christmas 2015 for the presents, but all of us will remember it for the warmth. Average temperatures between December 24th and 25th averaged 20-25 degrees above average; it was more like a weekend in April.

Many of us live in Maine because we like the cold and snow and over the next two weeks it does appear the weather will return to a more typical winter pattern. This won’t all happen at once, but it will seem more like the cold season than it has for most of December.

New Pattern
There are two weather systems that will bring precipitation to the region over the next three to four days. The further north you are, the better chance each of these have of being in the form of snow or sleet. This means by Wednesday, ski areas should have added some natural snow to the bases and it will look more like winter.

Along the coast, the first weather system will likely be mostly rain, but Tuesday’s weather even could bring accumulating snow to all of us.

Tonight, as a warm from moves north from the mid-Atlantic, precipitation will break out across the region. Since temperatures will be cold enough, the precip will start as snow or a mixed bag. As warmer air noses in from the south, rain will become the predominant form along the coast and into the foothills. In the mountains, snow will accumulate before any change to sleet or freezing rain. The map below shows highs tomorrow. Notice how much of the area is warmer than freezing.

This isn’t a big storm. Even where it stays all snow, snow amounts won’t be very high, but it will be enough to make travel a bit hazardous during Sunday morning.

The system will move out of the picture Sunday evening followed by clearing and cold weather. Monday will be one of, if not the coldest day of the early winter season.

Snow For Everyone
On Tuesday, the storm bringing a big blizzard to the New Mexico, Texas panhandle region will start coming into play. The map below shows both tomorrow’s storm and the one on Tuesday.

At this time it does appear a plowable snow event is likely for much of the area. It’s too early to know just how much snow will occur where and I don’t want to make accumulation maps this early, but Tuesday is looking like a wintry weather day with slow travel and cold temperatures.

The rain/snow line does make some progress north and west later Tuesday. If the warm air moves far enough north, then areas along the coast could change to a mixed bag later Tuesday and cut down on accumulation. This has the potential to be a significant storm and especially as the first one of the season.

I will update the specifics of the Tuesday snow event later in the weekend and Monday. Please check my Twitter feed @growingwisdom for more updates.

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