Snowy December Start Across Parts Of MA This Week

MASSACHUSETTS — It could begin to look a lot like the holiday season across parts of Massachusetts this week as a Clipper system from Canada brings a burst of snow mid-week.

While areas around Greater Boston will likely only see flakes mixed in with rain with little or no accumulation on Wednesday night, it will be a different story north and west of the city where 3 inches or more of snow may coat the ground by Thursday morning.

The best chance of accumulating snow will be north and west of Route 128 with up to an inch expected. The best chances of 3 inches or more will be north and west of Route 495 into the higher elevations of Worcester County, Berkshire County, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Before that, it will be a cold stretch with below-normal temperatures for much of the week.

Monday and Tuesday will be clear with a high of 39 degrees in Boston and lows in the 20s each night.

Wednesday's high is 41 degrees.

Snow is forecast to arrive Wednesday night with a change to rain in the Greater Boston area after 2 a.m. and continued snow inland.

Precipitation should end Thursday morning with a slightly warmer day offset by a strong southwest wind gusting to 28 miles per hour.

Another shot of cold air follows with a high of 34 degrees on Friday and 35 on Saturday.

(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.)