Another Storm? Could Bedford See the First Flakes of the Season?

By Peter Collins Brown

We just made it through the high winds and heavy rains of Sandy…but wait, there’s more to come! This time around, Bedford is facing a run-of-the-mill nor’easter rather than a freakish hybrid tempest. However, unlike Sandy, this storm may bring us our first snowflakes of the season. As with many nor’easters that Bedford has experienced, our forecast is highly dependent on something called the rain-snow line.

The rain-snow line is fairly self-explanatory. Locales to the north and west of the line see snow and sleet; areas to the south and east of it see mostly rain. The rain-snow line will be focused right over Bedford Wednesday afternoon into the early hours of Thursday.

In keeping with its namesake, northeast winds of about 25-35 mph will accompany any precipitation we get – but, what about our chances of seeing our first snow? This will depend on how cold the air stays before the storm arrives.

Remember how cold and dry it was on Tuesday? This cold, dry air is very dense and sits at the very bottom of the atmosphere. The approaching nor’easter will have difficulty removing this cold layer with the initial strong northeast winds in place. A robust northeast wind in Bedford does not bring in milder ocean air as it does in coastal communities; instead, our air will be coming from interior Maine late Wednesday afternoon.

With precipitation expected to be light at the onset and ground that is still warm from the early fall, Bedford will most likely see only a coating of snow at the very most. As the storm center nears us, slightly warmer air will be dragged into our area from the coast, pushing the rain-snow line further west. Any light snow showers should turn into a cold rain Thursday morning.

So, it appears we will indeed see our first snowflakes of the season. November is a month of transitions for Bedford, and this nor’easter will be one of them. As with previous storms, Bedfordites will “weather” this one very well. Just take care Wednesday afternoon and if you are out early on Thursday morning.

The first snow, whether it’s a coating or a foot, can prove challenging for drivers. However, not to despair, we could see temperatures climb into the 60’s by the weekend. Hold tight as we ride a weather roller coaster for the next week!