Before 8.4" of wind-driven snow walloped Boston Thursday -- a record for Dec. 13 -- only 1.5" had fallen so far this season. But Boston's snowfall paled in comparison to other New England totals -- including 13" reported at Burrillville, R.I., and Whitman, Mass., and the 9.5" at Binghamton, N.Y. Thursday's storm may be only the opening salvo in a far more active pattern predicted across the region in coming weeks. A mammoth new coastal storm this weekend could bury interior New England under an even heavier layer of snow while blasting the huge coastal cities of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with heavy rain.
Chicagoans, who have suffered through December's opening 13 days with only 14 percent of the area's possible sunshine (39 percent is normal), are treated to precipitation-free weather Friday for only the second time this month. The day's predicted 28-degree high could end up the 3rd chilliest of the new cold season.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
