How Much Snow Will Worcester Get? 8 Different Predictions

WORCESTER, MA — It's a safe bet that Worcester will get a significant amount of snow this weekend. But exactly how much? Hard to say.

Forecasters have put out a range of different forecasts for Worcester indicating we could get anywhere from 8 inches to, uh, 28 inches.

It's difficult to forecast more exact snow amounts, meteorologists say, due to the nature of the storm. There will be significant "banding" during the event, which means relatively small areas will get inundated by intense bands of precipitation.

Worcester tends to get more snow than places like Boston and Springfield due to the city's position inland directly in the path of storm systems coming up the Atlantic coast. The city is also at a higher elevation: about 500 feet above sea level downtown, but as high as 800 feet at Green Hill Park and close to 1,000 feet at the airport.

The weekend snow will begin just after midnight and will continue all day Saturday into early Sunday morning. The storm will also bring high wind gusts — up to 40 mph — that may create high snow drifts.

Here are eight predictions for snow totals through the weekend, current as of Friday morning:

National Weather Service: Government meteorologists tend to be pretty calm compared to other sources, but a little broader in predictions. They're seeing 12 to 18 inches across a wide region from Natick to Leicester.

European Model: The vaunted European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts has been pretty reliable for snow forecasts. It was predicting just under 15 inches in eastern Worcester County on Thursday evening.

Boston 25: If you don't want snow, this is your forecast. This station sees either 4 to 8 inches or 8 to 12 inches with I-290 as the dividing line between those amounts.

WHDH: In line with the weather service, WHDH is predicting 12 to 18 inches.

NBC10: Splitting the difference, NBC10 has total from 12 to 18 just west of Worcester and 18 to 24 east of Worcester.

WCVB: Getting higher. Channel 5 is predicting 18 to 24 inches between Worcester and Framingham.

The Weather Channel: The national team is calling for 4 inches by Saturday morning, and another 21 inches by Sunday morning for Worcester.

WBZ: OK, WBZ is going for it. They're calling for 18 to 28 inches over a wide area from the New Hampshire border south through central Worcester to the Connecticut border.