First Significant Snow Of Season Takes Aim At MA Early Next Week: See Latest Forecast

MASSACHUSETTS — The start of December could bring the first significant snow of the season to parts of interior Massachusetts and New England early next week as cold air to the north and a coastal storm battle warm ocean waters for the chance to blast the Bay State with a solid dose of winter.

While the storm is still five days away, a coastal storm arriving Tuesday may carry enough juice to dump measurable snow on parts of Massachusetts — especially in the Merrimack Valley and Worcester Hills, north and west into the Berkshires and New Hampshire, according to CBS Boston.

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This storm will not be a whopper, and may be mixed with too much rain and sleet to pile up in coastal locations, Greater Boston and the South Shore, but the threat is at least there for a messy evening commute in parts of eastern and central Massachusetts, with plowable snow possible.

This is the kind of snow that would require some cleanup by late in the day, especially during Tuesday's evening commute, CBS Boston said, but any flakes that fall near the shoreline will be wet and sloppy with poor sticking power. Areas that sit just inland from the immediate coast may briefly whiten up before warmer air wins out, the station said.

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This storm is also highly unlikely to break Boston's streak of nearly four years since Logan Airport last measured 6 inches of snow in one storm. That streak dates back to Feb. 25, 2022, when 8.5 inches of snow fell in the East Boston location, although larger snow amounts have been measured in other areas of the city and immediate Greater Boston since then.

Snow trends have remained far below normal in recent years across much of southern New England.

Those looking to get into the holiday spirit on Black Friday will enjoy a few flakes in the air as snow showers and an occasional squall combine with a sharp wind to make it feel colder than the 38-degree high temperature would suggest.

Saturday will be another blustery one with a brisk northwest wind gusting to 20 mph and a high of 42 degrees that will feel colder than that.

Sunday will be a bit warmer with afternoon precipitation coming in the form of rain with a high of 48 degrees.

Monday will be brisk and seasonably cold with a high of 43 degrees and wind chills in the 30s.

The storm, if it tracks as forecast, will arrive during the day on Tuesday and linger into the early evening hours. Any initial snow should change to a wintry mix and rain along the coast, with the best chance of prolonged snow coming north and west of Route 495.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)