Red Flag Warning
Our Easter Sunday featured the most sunshine over southwestern New England and only a few spells of it elsewhere up into the Boston area northward to the NH border. There were a few spotty brief sprinkles and even a few snow flakes across northeastern MA and southeastern NH this morning while sprinkles and light showers of rain and some snow occurred more frequently over much of ME and northern NH throughout the day. All of this action has been triggered by a storm centered over New Brunswick. This system will migrate westward into Quebec tonight and tomorrow as a disturbance across PA and NY transits into southwestern New England. This feature might release a few widely scattered showers across CT in the early morning hours tomorrow then pass out to sea south of the Boston area. As it peels away, the westerly wind will freshen to 15-35 mph tomorrow and that will really ramp up the pollen count. Additionally, much of the region is now in a moderate drought thanks to a large precipitation deficit of about 6.75" so far this year. Dry antecedent conditions coupled with the gusty winds and low relative humidity will create an elevated fire spread potential tomorrow. Consequently, the National Weather Service in Taunton, MA has issued a Red Flag Warning from 10AM to 8PM on Monday. Be careful! Outdoor burning is NOT recommended. Subsequent short waves will induce varying amounts of clouds through Thursday. Although I cannot completely rule out a brief shower in a few spots Tuesday, there is greater support for scattered showers on Wednesday and Thursday as a closed upper level low pressure system forms over the region. Unfortunately, there are no signs of any prolonged period of beneficial rain this week. By Friday, the upper air low will have shifted eastward away from the area with a dry northwesterly flow enabling sunnier weather for the Red Sox Home Opener at 2pm. Temperatures should max out in the upper 50s during that game against Tampa Bay.
Looking ahead, next weekend will be warmer with highs in the 60s. Sunshine will be bright on Saturday but an approaching warm frontal boundary will send in some cloudiness on Sunday with a risk of showers late in the day. If the boundary passes with its showers quickly early Monday, Patriot's Day, it could warm up dramatically through the 70s to near 80. I suspect that most of the Boston Marathon runners will not be happy about that. Well, it is too premature to be confident of that forecast just yet. In any event, you can watch the Great Race on WBZ-TV. The surge of summery weather might be more noticeable late Monday and especially Tuesday when 80s to near 90 is no stretch.
Melissa Mack delivers her AccuWeather Forecast in the morning and Todd Gutner follows later in the day.
Make it a great week!
