Latest Marblehead Weather: 6 Inches of Snow, Thunder

MARBLEHEAD, MA — A spring snowstorm will drop up to 6 inches of snow—and some rare thundersnow—on Marblehead Sunday.

Marblehead was placed under a winter weather advisory by the National Weather Service.

An arctic blast will first bring rain early Sunday morning. Things will change to snow around 7 a.m. and there may be thunder. One to 4 inches of snow is most likely and some parts of eastern Massachusetts will receive 6 inches, NWS said.

Heavy snow will happen over several hours before trailing off around noon. Whiteout conditions are possible and wind gusts will hit 60 mph.

This the NWS storm advisory:

• A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 11 AM EDT SUNDAY
• LOCATIONS...ALL OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND EXCEPT FOR THE IMMEDIATE SOUTH COAST...CAPE AND ISLANDS.
• ACCUMULATIONS...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 4 INCHES WITH A LOW RISK OF ISOLATED 5 TO 6 INCH AMOUNTS ACROSS THE HIGH TERRAIN.
• TIMING...RAIN WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE RAIN WILL THEN CHANGE TO SNOW FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST BETWEEN 3 AND 7 AM SUNDAY AND THERE MAY EVEN BE A RUMBLE OR TWO OF THUNDER. THE SNOW WILL THEN QUICKLY COME TO AN END BY LATE MORNING.
• IMPACTS...A 1 TO 3 HOUR PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW...STRONG WINDS AND NEAR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE REGION EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.
• WINDS...NORTHWEST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH.

Marblehead's extended forecast

Subscribe to Marblehead Patch news alerts

Thundersnow is rare phenomenon for New England. It happens when the air is below freezing near the ground and it produces shallow lightning close to the ground.

Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore captured thundersnow in Plymouth, Mass. last year:

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly earlier this year captured thundersnow from the International Space Station: