Sticky & Stuffy
Our recent rainfall amounts ranged from a less than a quarter-inch in places to more than an inch in other locations. It all ended in the early morning hours as expected and the overcast eventually broke up to reveal splashes of sunshine in many areas today. The resultant temperatures maxed out near or just over 80 degrees. The remarkable feature of the day was the stuffy, sticky air. There was barely a breeze and the humidity was high to oppressive. Some of the dewpoints nudged and even exceeded 70 degrees in the region. UGH! Are you just as annoyed by this stagnant air as I am? I think it's over the top for late September and I see little change for at least another 48 hours because of atmospheric blocking. A Bermuda high pressure system is locked in and a gargantuan anomalous low pressure circulation is spinning in place over the Midwest. Our region is positioned in a zone between the ridge offshore and a ridge over southern Canada. There is little air pressure difference over the Northeast resulting in limited movement of air. With calm conditions and muggy air in place, areas of dense groundfog are likely tonight. Motorists should be cautious traveling in valley locations especially near ponds, lakes and swamps where visibility could quickly drop to near zero.
The dilemma of the day is to determine if a moist conduit along the western periphery of the offshore high pressure system will deliver another parcel of showery weather to New England in the next 24-48 hours. A couple weak perturbations in the upper air flow will be transiting north-northeastward over the next couple days. Most signs suggest the steering current will veer to more westerly closer to the South Coast. Consequently, the ribbon of rain will be guided primarily just south of most of the area tomorrow and Monday as well. However, the northern fringe of this wet weather has the highest potential to sideswipe extreme southern CT, southern RI and the lower Cape mainly tomorrow morning through early afternoon. The rest of the region should remain dry with a remote risk that brief sprinkles could advance as far north as the Mass Pike. Meantime, the shield of high cloudiness should retreat south of northern New England and the early morning low cloudiness should burn off. This will create the most sunshine through varying amounts of clouds up north where the weather should be cooperative for all of the NASCAR fans at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon for the big Sylvania300 Race. A gloomier sky will exist near and south of the Mass Pike. In this area, check out a fundraiser to help kids overcome life-threatening challenges. It's the Life Is Good Festival continuing through tomorrow at the Prowse Farms in Canton. Expect high temperatures approaching or slightly exceeding 80 again many areas tomorrow and Monday.
Looking ahead, a backdoor cold front is slated to swing into the region on Tuesday. It will not be a dramatic arrival but the breeze should freshen a bit from the northeast and less humid air should push in from the Maritimes. This evolution will slow the progress of the spinning wheel of low pressure in the Midwest which will be getting a kick from the westerlies digging southward from Canada. The result is varying amounts of cloudiness Tuesday and Wednesday with lower temperatures in the 70-75 range and lower dewpoints in the 57-63 range. Inevitably, the block breaks and the Midwest low busts through on Thursday with showers and scattered thunderstorms. Meantime, upstream, a vigorous impulse will be digging southeastward and amplifying into a sharp trough of low pressure. This means that after a nice Friday with ample sunshine and highs in the middle 70s, a cold front crosses the area Friday night producing a swath of showers. The upper level trough will be crossing the area next weekend generating gusty winds and passing patches of clouds with a sprinkle and even some snow showers over the northern mountaintops. It will cool off to the middle to upper 60s on Saturday and middle to upper 50s on Sunday over southern New England with 40s up north and 30s in the mountains!
Joe Joyce delivers his AccuWeather Forecast in the morning and I shall follow later in the afternoon.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
