Cooler Yet Delightful
It's a fab Friday as the sun shines brightly this morning following the warmest day since September 13. Boston's 3:47 pm max of 82 degrees yesterday was not even close to the record of 93 which was set in 1932. We managed to capture the northern fringe of the hot air mass that scorched the upper Plains States and upper Mississippi Valley with temperatures in the range of 95-105 degrees a few days ago. It was a dramatic change out there flipping from some deep snows a couple of weeks ago to temperatures near the century mark earlier this week. It was their turn to experience the more typical seasonal New England pattern of winter directly to summer while we have been enjoying a decent amount of beautiful spring weather.
We're down a dozen today, degrees that is from yesterday's lower 80s, as cooler air is flowing in from Quebec on the heels of a cold front which passed across southern sections in the early morning hours. Despite its arrival, we will still enjoy refreshing high temperatures a few degrees above the average which is 67 for this date. There will not be a repeat of yesterday's gusty westerly winds of 15-35 mph. Instead, along the coast, the brisk northwesterly wind of mostly 10-25 mph this morning will decrease slightly and veer to more northerly than into the northeast during the afternoon so some cooling back to the middle to lower 60s is anticipated there. The sunshine may become interrupted a bit from the passage of some developing small puffy clouds and a few streamers of feathery clouds this afternoon. Another weak boundary will settle southward from northern New England with little or no fanfare other than the patchy clouds. That one will be followed by yet another weak one tomorrow which will crank out a few more clouds than today. This frontal boundary may become stalled over southwestern New England tomorrow night and Sunday. It will provide a focus axis for some overrunning and a resultant increase in the clouds on Sunday. While there is a low risk of a shower with the frontal passage tomorrow afternoon, there is a slightly elevated risk of a few spotty showers breaking out on Sunday. It certainly does not show signs of any washout by any stretch of the imagination. As a zone of high pressure builds southward from the Canadian Maritimes ending up over the western Atlantic, its circulation will create a southeasterly breeze here tomorrow and Sunday followed by a more south-southwesterly wind on Monday. This keeps all coastal areas cooler through the weekend and only south-facing coastal areas on Monday. Temperatures in the coastal locations will fall back a few degrees this afternoon, rise no higher than the lower 60s tomorrow and Sunday then rise slightly to the middle 60s at south-facing coastal spots on Monday.
Looking ahead, with the approach and passage of a warm front Monday morning, the band of clouds may thin and lift out of the area leading to perhaps partly sunny conditions with a slight risk of a shower. As a stronger cold front approaches from the north on Tuesday, a much higher risk of showers and boomers is likely. If the front stays north of the MA border into Tuesday afternoon, southern New England could warm up to the lower 80s with higher humidity. Eventually, this front will drop down into the Boston area and points south leading to a shift of wind into the northeast. This means much cooler weather will roll in on Wednesday with 60s then perhaps some rain and drizzle next Thursday in the 50s as a wave of low pressure arrives.
One last tidbit: Despite the 10-12 tornadoes that caused some severe damage and a few fatalities Wednesday evening in northern TX, the very good news is that there have been only 30 twisters over the entire nation in this month of May and that is 80% below the month-o-date average!
Todd Gutner post his blog early this evening and Joe Joyce will be here tomorrow and Sunday. I shall return early Monday morning.
Have a happy and safe weekend.
