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"While there is a chance of rain or snow Saturday, I'm not overly bullish about it right now," Joe Cioffi said Tuesday morning. "Too may weather systems and not enough cold air could be the primary issue here."
Although the weather pattern across North America appears chaotic, the Northeast should remain "relatively quiet and calm" through the work week, Cioffi said. The weekend could be close to the same, he said.
If this were a typical winter, there would be more cold air in our area, Cioffi said.
However, "with arctic air completely locked up, you basically have to work with what i could call 'dirty' cold air -- or cold air that is really not all that cold," he said.
Conditions are "really not that good for snow in the Northeast" this weekend, Cioffi said.
Nor'easters ordinarily carry heavy rain or snow, and can cause severe coastal flooding and erosion, hurricane-like winds or blizzards.
As of Tuesday, Cioffi said, weather models show a 10% chance this weekend of two inches of sleet or snow (30% inland) in North Jersey and immediately to the north.
"Not exactly a resounding endorsement at this early stage," he said. "Everything has to time out perfectly and you have to have just enough cold air to pull it off."
For Tuesday, "there are strips of clearing in the mix, and we should see some sunshine breaking through from time to time today, with highs in the low to mid 40s," the meteorologist said.
The rest of the week "will be a little colder, but it will be dry," he said.
"Wednesday, Thursday and Friday should see some sunshine each day. Highs by day will be in the 30s, maybe a few warm spots touch 40 or so," Cioffi said. "Nighttime lows will be in the 20s.
"That is right around where we should be for this time of year."
Weekend models "aren't exactly screaming major storm here," Cioffi noted.
However, he said, "It won’t be until Thursday that models have this figured out....We will go for a chance for rain or snow for now and leave it at that."
SEE: Meteorologist Joe Cioffi Weather Updates
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