Last night, when the sky was dark, I took a look at Jupiter and Saturn in the western sky. Now they are closer, but they are still discernible as two separate planets. This beautiful site, something that people could not observe in about 800 years, in the Middle Ages, will continue as the planets change position and move away after months.
While all this is happening up there, if we have cloud cover, we will not see it.
Later on Saturday, high clouds will begin to rise as low pressure approaches. It is indeed a race between the darkening sky and the arriving clouds and it seems to me that the clouds will win. At first we will see high clouds, so there is a chance if you are in a dark area, you will be able to see both planets through the clouds around 17:00 on Saturday night.
On Sunday, a rather weak system approaches the area with some scattered rain or snow showers. Snow would be downgraded to colder areas in the north and west. This is a very harmless system, but it will bring turmoil, which means we have no way of seeing the conjunction on Sunday night.
On the map below, the value 100 represents the complete coverage of the clouds. Almost all of New England is completely cloudy right after sunset on Sunday. This is an unfortunate time for skywatchers.
Another small weather system will affect the region on Monday and I think it will keep us cloudy for that night as well. You can start to see where this is going, because the best three nights of the conjunction will be spent above the clouds and we will be stuck without the ability to view it here. All is not lost, however, because I think it will start to clear up for Tuesday night.
While the two planets will not be as close until Tuesday as at the winter solstice, it will still be a wonderful sight, provided my prediction is made. The weather actually seems more restless on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so both nights will not offer any good viewing.