A brief period of strong winds occurred across portions of western Massachusetts during the evening hours on March 22, 2025 in the wake of a passing cold front. Wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph occurred in some areas with a peak gust of 51 mph at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport.
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The episode as NWS ALY wrote it up.
A brief period of strong winds occurred across portions of western Massachusetts during the evening hours on March 22, 2025 in the wake of a passing cold front. Wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph occurred in some areas with a peak gust of 51 mph at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 22, 2:10 PM EST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Albany NY 310 PM EDT Sat Mar 22 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Some showers are expected this afternoon into this evening ahead of a passing cold front and it will turn windy again later today into tonight. Colder and drier weather is expected on Sunday before another storm system brings more rain and snow to the region for Sunday night into Monday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... Skies will be mostly cloudy this afternoon as a cold front approaches from the west. This will be a fairly moisture starved system. Radar suggests that broken lines of showers move through the region this afternoon and early evening. Any precip looks fairly light in intensity and brief in duration. P-type will be mainly rain, although some wet snowflakes will mix across the Adirondacks towards the evening hours as some colder air works into the area behind the cold front. All areas should be behind the front by the early evening hours. Tonight, temperatures cool rapidly behind the cold front and some light snow showers are expected across the higher terrain. Some gusts may reach 30-35 mph this evening into tonight, especially in the Capital Region, Catskills and Berkshires. With lows down into the teens and 20s across the area it will feel colder with the wind. On Sunday, high pressure will be quickly building towards the area from the west. While it will be breezy to start the day, the wind will be diminishing as the high pressure area gets closer. Skies will be fairly clear through the entire day thanks to the strong subsidence. Temps will be much colder than on Saturday, with highs only in the 30s and 40s. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... Key Messages: - Most areas should see a brief period of wintry precip late Sunday night into Monday morning resulting in locally slippery conditions Discussion: Although Sunday evening will start off dry and mostly clear, sky cover will be increase as the next system begins to approach. Still, temps should fall off into the 20s to low 30s and will be reaching mins around midnight or so. Low pressure will move through Ontario and Quebec on Monday. The storm will push a warm front across the area early Monday. A period of isentropic lift will allow for an area of steady light precip across the area for the late night hours on Sunday night. Enough cold air will be in place for this precip to begin as snow. This precip will be fairly light and rather progressive, so it will only be a few hour period of light precip, so amounts look rather minimal. Most valley areas will only see a quick coating to perhaps up to an inch of snowfall. Higher terrain areas may see 1 to 3 inches of snowfall, especially in the Adirondacks where upslope flow may locally help squeeze out a little more precip. Overall, precip will be changing over from snow to rain on Monday morning, but precip will end from southwest to northeast on Monday, as the best forcing shifts away and the storm's dry slot moves towards the area. NBM probabilities show high values for at least a dusting (60-90% for nearly the entire area), but values lower significantly for above 2 inches. The probability of 4" is nearly zero for most of the area, except small areas of the Adirondacks and Catskills are in a 10%-30% chance. With the low expected snow amounts and fairly isolated coverage and near zero potential for any freezing rain (mainly under 10% chance, even in the terrain), Winter Weather Advisories will not be needed for this event. Still, a Special Weather Statement or social media messaging may still help pass the word along that some localized slippery conditions can't be ruled out early Monday morning, especially on untreated surfaces and across the higher terrain. Some precip lingers into Monday afternoon, with most afternoon precip light rain showers or drizzle, with continued cloudy conditions across the rest of the area. Temps will be chilly, with low to mid 40s for much of the day across the area. Some partial clearing may finally occur on Monday night, although some cyclonic flow snow showers or flurries may still linger over the Adirondacks and southern Green Mtns thanks to the nearby upper level low and some lake moisture. Temps will fall into the upper 20s to mid 30s. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Key Messages: - Seasonable temperatures expected through the extended period with some moderation possible on Saturday. - Chances for precipitation are highest Tuesday night into Wednesday and again Friday into Saturday. Some of this precipitation may be wintry Discussion: An upper level trough persists from Tuesday into Friday indicating cool, seasonable conditions. Normal lows at Albany this upcoming week are in the upper 20s with normal highs in the upper 40s and we should be close to those numbers. A shortwave moving through the upper level trough Tuesday night into Wednesday may produce some wintry precipitation. Precipitation looks to be light and ensembles indicate a 30% chance or less for 1" or more of snow. Friday into Saturday a wave approaches from the west while an arctic high tries to nose in from Canada. Timing will be everything as a faster wave from the west would indicate more liquid precipitation and warmer conditions while a win for the cold high pressure arriving earlier would lead to more wintry precipitation. Time, as always, will tell... && .AVIATION /19Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Through 18z Sunday...VFR conditions continue at all terminals as of 1:15 PM EDT, but a line of light showers approaching from the west could lead to some brief MVFR vsby reductions between 19-21z at ALB/GFL/PSF. After a brief break, another line of showers associated with a cold front could bring another round of brief MVFR, to possibly borderline IFR, vsbys between 22-00z. Have handled each of these chances for showers separately with their own tempo groups. Showers end this evening by 00z, and then dry conditions persist through 18z tomorrow. Expecting mainly VFR conditions at ALB/POU/GFL with SCT to BKN mid-level clouds around tonight, although PSF will likely see a period of MVFR cigs behind the cold front for at least a few hours with upslope flow. Any low and mid clouds should diminish tomorrow by mid-morning with mostly clear skies from that point through 18z. Winds will be at around 10 kt from the south/southwest with gusts up to 20-25 kt this afternoon ahead of the cold front, then abruptly switch to the west at 10-15 kt with gusts of 20-30 kt (locally up to 35 kt at PSF). Gusty west winds continue through much of tonight before wind speeds and gusts lower to 5-10 kt with gusts of up to 15- 20 kt for the last few hours of the TAF valid period tomorrow. Outlook... Sunday Night: High Operational Impact. Breezy. Definite SN. Monday: High Operational Impact. Breezy. Definite SHRA...RA. Monday Night: Low Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Tuesday: Low Operational Impact. Breezy. NO SIG WX. Tuesday Night: Low Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Wednesday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA...SHSN. Wednesday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Thursday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. && .FIRE WEATHER... A cold front will bring widespread light precipitation to the region this afternoon and early this evening. While winds become gusty from the W/NW at 25-35 mph behind the cold front, RH values recover to at least 40-50% by the time winds pick up. RH values tonight continue to recover to 50-65%. Sunday starts out with gusty winds at 20-30 mph from the W/NW, but winds diminish through the day as high pressure builds overhead. RH values drop to 20-30% tomorrow afternoon, but wind gusts should be less than 15 mph by the time this happens. Therefore, per collaboration with the NYS DEC and neighboring offices, we determined that an SPS is not needed for tomorrow. Another round of rain/snow moves in Sunday night into Monday, and we are not anticipating elevated fire weather concerns through at least the first part of next week. A reminder that the annual New York State burn ban is in effect until May 14. No burn permits are issued. && .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && SYNOPSIS...SND NEAR TERM...SND SHORT TERM...SND LONG TERM...SND AVIATION...Main FIRE WEATHER...Main
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Albany NY 408 AM EDT Sat Mar 22 2025 CTZ001-013-MAZ001-025-NYZ032-033-038>043-047>054-058>061-063>066- 082>084-VTZ013>015-231100- Northern Litchfield-Southern Litchfield-Northern Berkshire- Southern Berkshire-Northern Herkimer-Hamilton-Southern Herkimer- Southern Fulton-Montgomery-Northern Saratoga-Northern Warren- Northern Washington-Schoharie-Western Schenectady- Eastern Schenectady-Southern Saratoga-Western Albany-Eastern Albany- Western Rensselaer-Eastern Rensselaer-Western Greene-Eastern Greene- Western Columbia-Eastern Columbia-Western Ulster-Eastern Ulster- Western Dutchess-Eastern Dutchess-Northern Fulton-Southeast Warren- Southern Washington-Bennington-Western Windham-Eastern Windham- 408 AM EDT Sat Mar 22 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwestern Connecticut, western Massachusetts, east central and eastern New York and southern Vermont. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday. A storm system will bring widespread light precipitation to the region Sunday night into Monday with snow changing to rain. While snowfall amounts are expected to remain below advisory criteria, locally slippery travel conditions will be possible on Monday morning. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 51 mph wind gust was recorded at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Massachusetts in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, March 2025
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1244078.