Refreshments
The recent hot spell certainly wasn't horrendous and, surprisingly, I really didn't complain too much about it. I guess my reaction was partly due to the fact that the humidity wasn't oppressive, partly due the fact that there was a nice ventilating gusty wind on Saturday and Sunday and partly due to the fact that I foresaw a definite end to it. Can you imagine having to live with steamy sultry air now for the rest of the summer without any breaks to recover? Whew! I know that some people really would love that but I have to believe that the majority of New Englanders are not in that camp or they would be living down south. Anyway, a brand new air mass is in place and I'm "feeling good". The humidity is very low with the dewpoints in the 30s this morning. That is outstanding for this time of the year. The good news is that there is no hot weather on the menu for this area probably through all of next week! That will make teachers and students happy as the school year ends in 2-3 weeks.
Yesterday's rains were especially drenching over southeastern MA particularly closer to the New England South Coast and much of Cape Cod. Check out these amounts compiled by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Taunton. The top total was submitted by one of the WBZ Weather Watchers at 3.8" in Fairhaven! That ribbon of rain is well offshore now as a ridge of high pressure builds in from the west. As it does so, there will be an active wind freshening to 10-20 mph with a few gusts to 25 mph during the day then diminishing this evening. Atmospheric soundings suggest that there will be a development of scattered cumulus clouds later this morning into the afternoon. These clouds will migrate across the sky, give it some decoration, blot out the sun now and then and dry up late this afternoon and early evening. The greatest amount of clouds will be seen farther north and west of Boston. With the aid of that strong early June sunshine, it should warm up to 72-76. Those high temperatures will be repeated tomorrow after it cools off to near 56 in Boston and 40s in many of the suburbs tonight. Varying amounts of cloudiness will be visible starting later tomorrow morning with less wind than today out of the southeast to south-southwest. After that, the sky will be nearly covered with lots of clouds on Thursday as showers develop farther north and west of Boston as the afternoon progresses. A weak wave of low pressure will be forming in the Ohio Valley and a frontal boundary will be extending from the system into the Northeast.
Looking ahead, we'll be keeping an eye on the Gulf of Mexico as a lobe of tropical moisture may blossom into a depression with a slight shot at intensifying into the first named tropical storm of the season. Presently, there is a 30% chance that the system will become organized and ramp up to the name of Andrea. Check out the list of names of tropical cyclones for this season and the following 5 years. In any event, some of the tropical moisture is slated to be captured by the steering currents as a deepening trough of low pressure digs toward the southeastern states. This rainy weather will be driven up the eastern seaboard to New England. The current timing of this moisture points to a wet Friday and Friday night. After this system with tropical characteristics crosses Cape Cod early Saturday, the rain will taper off to mist and a few showers and end with some brightening possible in the afternoon. That feature is to be closely followed by another bundle of energy in the jet stream destined to deepen from the Great Lakes into the Northeast the first part of next week. That means another spell of unsettled, showery weather is quite likely. All of the real hot, stifling air will be residing out over the intermountain region of the west.
Todd Gutner posts his blog early this evening and I shall return early tomorrow morning.
Make it a great day!
