The Heat Goes On
And the beat goes on... and the heat goes on... and on and on and on and on and on... but the end is clearly in sight. This hot and humid mass of air will be booted out of the region late Saturday as a potent cold front crosses the area. Until then, more of the same as temperatures top 90 degrees in most locations. Today will be day 3 of 90+ degrees making it another official heat wave. Again, however, like yesterday, it's a race at Logan Airport between the temperature reaching 90 and the sea breeze kicking in. Yesterday, the 92 degrees got the gold and the ocean wind got the silver. Around 10:30-11 this morning, it would hit 90 but the ocean wind might go for the gold. We shall see. In any event, most of the region excluding most of Cape Cod and other coastline places will easily attain 90-94 today as sunshine rules most of the time. You can seek that beach relief with afternoon temperatures at the coast in the 80s with a low tide at noon and a high tide close to 6pm. Ocean temperatures are in the range of 66-74. There really will not be much wind again with speeds mainly in the range of 5-10 mph in most of the region. A narrow patch of clouds exiting southern NH will cross into northern MA and disappear this morning with some additional clouds appearing later in the day. The risk of a shower or boomer remains minimal.
As advertised in recent days, this will turn out to be a 7-day heat wave for many areas away from the ocean. The last one of that duration in Boston happened in August of 1988. The daily highs will ramp up slightly so the hottest days will be Thursday and Friday with max readings in the middle 90s. Boston's record highs on both of those day, July 18 and 19, are 98 degrees. It will be close call but I think it will be 95 or 96 in Boston. On those two days, there will not be any beach relief as a freshening southwesterly wind drives the heat onto the east-facing beaches. That same wind direction will be a cooling wind over most of Cape Cod with highs there in the lower to middle 80s and Nantucket just under 80. After slightly less humid weather this morning, the muggies will ramp back up into the oppressive zone Thursday through Saturday. After that, the humidity will drop significantly Saturday night and remain in the low zone Sunday through most of Tuesday. It will also be cooler and much more pleasant on those latter days with highs in the lower 80s inland down to the middle to upper 70s along the coast due to a 5-15 mph northeast to easterly breeze blowing in from the ocean. I can't wait to open up the house and let the fresh air flow through!
The strong anticyclone remains parked over the eastern part of the nation. It is centered over the Ohio Valley with a gradual drift westward. Meantime, a cold front over southern Quebec will gain some momentum and sag down over ME as a backdoor cold front. The odds are against this frontal boundary backing into southeastern NH or northeastern MA in the next 24 hours as it retreats northeastward late tomorrow. The pressure gradient will tighten between the sprawling high pressure to the south and another approaching cold front proceeding across Canada. This front will drop farther south into the mountains of northern New England with the thunderstorm threat increasing up there both Thursday and Friday. A few of these cells may stray into northern MA on either of those two days but the main show will occur Saturday as the strongest front approaches from the west. The stage is set for some potential severe weather on that day as an introduction to some really refreshing air from Canada starting late Saturday night. A benevolent high pressure system will take over and provide much drier and delightful air lasting through next Tuesday. Some showers may return the second half of next week.
Todd Gutner posts his blog early this evening and I shall return early tomorrow morning.
Make it a great day and STAY COOL!
