The Sticky Story
After enduring horrendous heat and humidity in much of July, we were rewarded with extremely dry, soothing air over the past 3 days. It definitely was a hat trick of delightful weather that ended last night. The humidity and temperatures are much higher now so it feels more like an August morning. Some scattered showers have been migrating across the region this morning associated with a warm frontal boundary lifting northeastward. It appears that there should be some breakage of the deck of clouds enabling intervals of sunshine many areas later this morning and afternoon. It should warm up to at least the lower 80s. A few more spotty showers and storms cannot be ruled out this afternoon but I think that most of the action will fire up over western New England. Much of this activity will probably keep regenerating well north and west of Boston overnight as it stays sticky and warm with lows near 70 degrees. Eventually, this swath of showers and storms will expand and push southeastward to encompass most of the region by tomorrow afternoon. Expect local tropical downpours with the potential of 1 to 1.5" of rain in much of MA except southeastern sections of the state especially on Cape Cod where only a few tenths of an inch of rain will fall. Despite the lack of or even absence of sunshine tomorrow, it will still be warm to near 80 as the humidity remains high to oppressive.
The weekend is looking great at this time. A cold frontal boundary will be shifting southward out of Cape Cod first thing Saturday morning so it will still be rather humid down there as the cloud shield settles southeastward with clearing arriving north and west of Boston around dawn ranging up to late morning on the Cape. For the 12,000 or more runners and volunteers in the 7 mile Falmouth Road Race, it will be cloudy to partly sunny and turning less humid as the race begins at 10am. The temperature will be around 77 at the start of the race and rise to the lower 80s by noon with a southwest to westerly wind at 10-20 mph. For the rest of the region, Saturday's afternoon highs will be close to 88 degrees in Boston and middle 80s in upper Worcester County with ample sunshine and a few clouds with dewpoints dropping into the upper to middle 50s north and west of the city. With a ridge of high pressure building over the area, Sunday will feature a westerly breeze in the morning perhaps flipping to an onshore breeze at some beaches in the afternoon. Sunday will be a bit cooler at 80 degrees but quite sunny with low humidity. Monday will be mostly sunny in the morning then partly cloudy in the afternoon with highs around 80 or so except it will be a bit cooler at the beaches.
Looking ahead, the next frontal boundary will arrive Tuesday with its attendant swath of showers and storms shifting eastward over New England. Some local downpours are possible from that weather maker with a few spotty instability showers still possible on Wednesday as a trough of low pressure passes through. After that, a sprawling zone of high pressure will expand eastward from the Great Lakes and upper Ohio Valley into the Northeast. We should enjoy 3 splendid days namely Thursday through Saturday. The days will be sunny most of the time but a bit cooler with highs in the middle to upper 70s.
Of interest is the relentless, dangerous searing heat that is scorching southern and eastern China. It was the hottest July on record over there and now August is brutal with several daily highs over 100 degrees. Shanghai just had its highest temperature ever in recorded history at 105.4 degrees! It is predicted to be over 100 through Sunday with new all-time highs around 107 or 108 degrees tomorrow and Saturday!
The August astronomical treat takes place this weekend with the annual Perseid Meteor Shower. The moon sets early and the weather should be very cooperative for some great viewing conditions. Click the link for more information about the Perseids.
Joe Joyce will post his blog early this evening and I shall return early tomorrow morning.
Make it a great day!
