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Welcome To August!

With the conclusion of July, the final figures are all in Boston's book of weather records. As I mentioned in my blog yesterday, I expected it to be tied with 2010 as the 4th hottest July. Wrong! It turned out to be tied with 1911 as the 5th hottest July with a mean temperature of 77.1 degrees which is 3.7 degrees above the average. The 3rd, 4th and 5th places are each separated by only a tenth of a degree. The hottest July was 1983 at 78.0 degrees with the second hottest tied between 1952 and 1994 at 77.5 followed by the third hottest in 2011 at 77.3 then the 4th hottest in 2010 at 77.2 degrees. In the city, the highest temperature for the month was 99 on the 19th with the lowest at 60 on the 25th. The rainfall totaled 3.61" which is 0.18" above the average but far less than the whopping June total of 10.5".

As the new month begins today, the temperature will be just about average with highs in the lower 80s except middle 70s this afternoon closer to the beaches especially those that are south-facing. The south to southeasterly wind will freshen to 10-20 mph as the cloudiness starts filtering and blotting out the sunshine. An overcast is likely later this afternoon with the swath of showers and embedded thunderstorms arriving by the first part of the evening. Take along the rain gear to Fenway Park as the wet weather will impact the game in some way, shape or form. The potential exists for a half-inch up to an inch or so in places as the air becomes rather humid. The frontal boundary with an attendant weak wave of low pressure will shift offshore by dawn tomorrow resulting in any lingering showers to shut down near or just after sunrise. A drying westerly wind will ensue and result in decent clearing with a sunny to partly cloudy sky later in the morning through the afternoon. Temperatures will shoot up to 84-88 as the dewpoints drop.

Looking ahead to the weekend and beyond, it will be satisfactory for the most part but probably not rain-free. The low risk of a shower Saturday will be replaced by a much higher probability of showers and spotty boomers on Sunday afternoon as most of the action evolving over northern New England begins to stray southward toward northern MA. Little or none of this wet weather is projected to transit into southeastern MA before it dissipates and dries up early Sunday evening. The passage of a trough of low pressure Sunday evening will set the stage for a couple of quiet, pleasant days on Monday and Tuesday. The air will be rushing in from Canada so the it will be refreshingly dry and brisk with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the middle 50s except middle 60s in Boston. The next weather maker might only scoot by to the south of the region with only a bit of rain on the South Coast later Tuesday night or early Wednesday. Presently, it is more plausible that a wave of low pressure will transfer a parcel of heavier showers and storms over the region later next Thursday and Thursday night. It is too premature to be confident of the outcome currently.

Basically, there is no change in the thinking that the temperatures will be near average to a few degrees below the average through at least the first half of August with NO heat waves in the pipeline for the Northeast. Climatology dictates that after the middle of the month, the risk of any extended spell of heat lowers significantly. Last August, we received 2 days at 90 degrees or higher. It was 92 on the 3rd and 90 on the 31st. There were no days at 90 or higher in September. Two years ago today after we had sweltered through the 3rd hottest July on record, it was 93 degrees.

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

Make it a great day!

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