Chelmsford's Forecast: 0 to 55 Degrees in 24 Hours

By SUSAN PETRONI (Patch Staff)

CHELMSFORD, MA - Monday morning, temperatures were below zero in most of the Commonwealth.

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, temperatures in Eastern Massachusetts are expected to reach 50 degrees.

On Sunday, both Boston and Worcester broke temperature records.

Boston broke cold records in February for the first time since 1967 when the temperature dipped to -4 degrees at midnight, according to the National Weather Service.

A temperature record was set around 2 a.m Sunday when Worcester dropped to 13 below zero; the temperature was 11 below in 1979. The wind chill overnight Saturday was a 41 degrees below zero, according to the National Weather Service.

So between Saturday at 11 p.m. and Tuesday at 3 p.m, Chelmsford, and most of Eastern Massachusetts will see a 60-degree temperature change.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says temperature ranges of 50 degree or more are common in later winter and early spring. In the winter, this is due to strong arctic winds from Canada.

Early Sunday, the National Weather Service in Boston has issued a winter weather advisory for Eastern Massachusetts, including Chelmsford, for Presidents’ Day from 3 p.m. until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Snow is only expected to be a maximum of 1 to 2 inches, but the storm is also expected to bring sleet and freezing rain. The snow is expected between 4 and 8 p.m. on Monday. Then the snow will transition to sleet and freezing rain. By Tuesday morning at daybreak, the freezing rain will transition to rain, but isolated pockets of freezing rain could continue through the rest of Tuesday morning.