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Polar vortex could bring rare May snow, low temps to the northeast this weekend

Polar vortex could bring rare May snow, low temps to the northeast this weekend
Posted at 11:19 AM, May 08, 2020
and last updated 2020-05-08 11:25:23-04

BOSTON (AP) — The northeastern U.S. is about to get a cold spring farewell from winter’s bad boy, the polar vortex, which could bring rare May snowfall and record-low temperatures to some areas over the Mother’s Day weekend.

The National Weather Service says a low-pressure system off the coast of southern New England is pulling cold air down from the north.

Current forecasts call for perhaps as much as 2 inches of snow in the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts on Friday into Saturday, and rain with flakes possible in the Boston area.

Massachusetts hasn’t had measurable snow in May since 2002 and there hasn’t been measurable May snowfall in Boston since 1977.

Upstate New York could see an inch of snow, and further down in New York City and the Hudson River valley is likely to see mostly rain, according to Hunter Tubbs at the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.

In northern New England, the greatest chance for snowfall accumulations this weekend is across the higher elevations, in New Hampshire’s White Mountains and in Coos County, and in northwestern Maine, Tubbs said.

Freeze warnings are in place for parts of Pennsylvania, Tubbs said, with freeze watches stretching into New Jersey and as far south as Maryland.