Weekend Weather Outlook Unclear for Boston, as Northern Shift Creates More Questions

A major winter storm is expected to cripple nearly half the country this weekend, as dangerous ice and snow will stretch all the way from Texas to New England. What exactly happens, and where, is still a bit of a mystery.

For the greater Boston area, extremely cold temperatures are certain. But whether more snow is on the horizon is still in flux.

The setup has a huge high-pressure system coming down from Canada. It's holding all the cold air that will blanket much of the country. While that happens, there's a giant moisture system coming east from the Pacific. It's holding all of the precipitation that's going to run into that cold air.

Where and when that collision happens is going to impact what anybody sees from it.

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, the consensus weather models made a huge shift for where most of this was going to happen - and it was a huge shift North. There's sure to be more shifting, as we're still a few days out, but for now, here's the thought:

The moisture coming from the Pacific is moving faster than originally thought. That's pushing the biggest snow portions of the storm across Virginia, D.C. and likely up into New York and New Jersey.

That puts Boston right in the crosshairs of a giant "who knows?". There could be no additional snow. There could be a foot of snow. It's all a guess right now.

What is certain is the entire area will be extremely cold this weekend. The National Weather Service Boston has wind chills under 0 across the region this weekend. Highs are expected to reach only 14-18 degrees over the weekend.

We'll keep you updated as models start to tell a better picture in the coming days.