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A Beautiful Memorial Day

On this Memorial Day, we remember and honor the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. I hope that you will take time out to think about all those courageous heroes who have given the ultimate sacrifice in serving this great nation to preserve our freedom. The weather will be ideal here in New England for all the ceremonies and parades on this special day after the recent cold harsh winds and nasty conditions.

It has been an extraordinary weekend with the heaviest flooding rains concentrated mainly over western New England, heavy snows above 1500 feet, very cold weather setting some records for the lowest high temperatures ever in late May, gales and some minor coastal flooding. Some areas in Vermont received up t0 7-8" of flooding rain over the past several days with lower totals ranging down to 4" or so in parts of Worcester County to 2" or so in Metro West to an inch or less over southeastern MA and Cape Cod. Meantime, sufficient cold air was entrained in the storm circulation to produce wet snow in the higher elevations. There were some flakes mixing with the rain above 750 feet then the real accumulating snow generally occurred above 1500 feet. Some specific amounts ranged from 2-6" at Bretton Woods, 12-14" at the summit of Jay Peak, 13"+ on top of Mt. Mansfield and a whopping 34" at Whiteface Mt. in NY! A slight storm surge added to the spring tides associated with the just past Full Flower Moon resulted in some minor coastal flooding.

Apply the sunscreen today as bright uninterrupted sunshine sends temperatures to levels slightly above the average for this date- close to 74 degrees. There will be a pleasant breeze up to 15-20 mph which will subside late in the day. It will be a great for all outside activities today and this evening and especially nice at Fenway Park as the Red Sox host the Phillies. The first pitch temperature will be near 66 with a drop to near 61 by the end of the game. Late night lows will range from 55 in the city down to about 44 in many of the suburbs. A ridge of high pressure will shift just offshore tomorrow resulting in a southeasterly breeze at 10-15 mph which will cap the temperatures near the middle 60s at the coast ranging up to 74-78 farther inland. Some streamers and filaments of feathery clouds will be visible as a warm frontal boundary approaches from the west. As it nears, the clouds will increase and thicken tomorrow evening and turn into showers and spotty boomers before dawn on Wednesday. The showers and storms will be exiting by midday followed by the frontal passage and a transition to much higher humidity as the afternoon progresses. Temps. will bump into the 70s that afternoon and only fall to near 60 at night.

Looking ahead, a building ridge of high pressure surface and aloft south of New England points to a stretch of sizzling, steamy weather here starting Thursday. The risk of a heat wave is very high as temperatures exceed 90 degrees for at least 3 consecutive days! So the heat is on for the last 2 days of May and the first 2 days of June. This is the first heat wave for Boston since July 13-15. Boston's last singular day of 90 degrees was on August 31 and its last day over 90 was on August 3 at 92 degrees. When I was much younger, I enjoyed the heat of summer. Sadly, that is not the case anymore- opting for days near or under 70 degrees!. For me, I would be thrilled if it's the only heat wave we get all summer long but I seriously doubt that will happen. How much hot weather would you like this summer? If you want some relief later this week, head to south-facing coastal locations like Cape Cod, outer Cape Ann and the ME coast where a southwesterly wind will keep those places in the middle 70s to near 80. A cold front will eventually push into the Northeast either later next Sunday or Monday with a swath of showers and storms. It should be cooler and drier after that.

Joe Joyce posts his blog by early this evening and I shall return early tomorrow morning.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day!

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