Northeast Can See Snow as Spring Arrives

Spring, the vernal equinox, officially arrives at 6:45 p.m. EDT Friday. In the wake of yet another snowmaker for Downeast Maine and parts of Atlantic Canada Tuesday, fresh, cold air will be dragged into the Northeast. Before you become concerned that this sounds like another big Northeast snowstorm, there are several aspects that mitigate this threat:
- The cold air becomes more "stale" by Friday, thus near-surface temperatures may allow for some melting of falling snow.
- It's also late March. With the sun higher in the sky, that would also add several degrees of warmth to an air mass compared to what we would see in January or February.
- The offshore low-pressure system isn't expected to become strong. Therefore, strong winds will not be an issue.
- This system is expected to exit quickly by Saturday. Therefore, this will limit the potential for heavy precipitation.

While Boston's seasonal snow record has been well documented, there are also a couple of snow cover longevity notables from this winter that you may not have heard about:
- Newark, New Jersey: Record 45 straight days with at least 1 inch snow cover (ended March 9).
- Syracuse, New York: Record 19 straight days with over 2 feet of snow cover (ended March 9).
- Machias, Maine: Set daily snow depth records from Jan. 28-March 11, then again on March 16 (40 inches).

Link:http://www.weather.com/storms/winter/news/northeast-snow-forecast-spring-equinox