Damp, Dank And Dreary
Clearly, today's conditions are in sharp contrast to those of last weekend when New Englanders were enjoying superb weather. My family and I were excited to be at the Mount Washington Resort at Bretton Woods, NH which is in our favorite place to view the fall foliage extravaganza and climb mountains. Amazingly, the majestic Presidential Range was in the clear during our entire stay and then some and that is the first time that I have ever witnessed that! The visibility from the highest summits exceeded 100 miles! The cool nights and brilliant days created the catalyst to accelerate the foliage color change all the way down here into MA. Some spotters state that the explosive color developed overnight in places. For more info on the color change, logon to leafpeepers. As per usual, the fall foliage colors are variable from place to place and time to time ranging from muted hues to vibrant shades. Traveling great distances for the show can bring disappointment and reward.
Anyway, after being spoiled by a long stretch of splendid sunny weather the second half of September into the first few days of October, it's a downer to deal with damp, dank and dismal weather again but I suppose all good things must come to an end. After all, the lengthy dry spell warrants a watering and there will be periodic to occasional rain and mist through much of today. With strong high pressure in eastern Canada causing some cold air damming, it appears that it will remain raw with temperatures even falling a few degrees during the day. Expect mostly 50s across eastern MA with some readings in the lower to middle 60s farther southwest. At 7am, it was mainly clear and 28 degrees in Presque Isle, ME while in the opposite corner of New England in Bridgeport, CT it was 65 and muggy! There is a battle of the air masses. The cool air wins here today while it nudges 90 around Washington, DC! Tomorrow, some of that warm air will be streaming into our region but it will be modified muggy air with highs in the lower to middle 70s. The storm which triggered the severe weather in Iowa and Nebraska and the blizzard from South Dakota into Montana and Wyoming a couple days ago is racing into Canada. Wayne, NE was pummeled by an EF4 tornado packing winds of 170 mph while the Black Hills of SD received 3-4 feet of snow! Deadwood hit the jackpot with 48"! Rapid City, SD got its second biggest snowstorm ever with 23.1" and that is following its 3rd biggest snowstorm ever on April 8-10 of this year! The storm's cold front will slice eastward pushing along a wall of water. A record-breaking 6" of rain flooded Louisville, KY in the past 24 hours and some torrential rain will be falling during the Patriots/Bengals Game this afternoon. That swath of wet weather will shift eastward across New England tomorrow evening into the early morning hours of Tuesday. It will be less productive but a spell of downpours up to an inch is likely.
Looking ahead, the front will exit offshore by dawn Tuesday and rapid clearing will set in for a sunshiny day with much drier air and highs near or just over 70 degrees. A sprawling zone of high pressure will build in from Canada and the Great Lakes to provide crisp, clear weather Wednesday and Thursday. There could be some patchy clouds on Cape Cod Tuesday night and Wednesday morning otherwise brilliant sunshine will rule with temperatures falling to 40-45 in many of the suburbs for 3 nights starting Tuesday. It will recover to 65-70 each day. The forecast becomes uncertain next weekend as there are indications that a storm may try to form off the North Carolina coast and it could drift northward to perhaps spill its northern fringe of rain on southern New England. This prognosis for the holiday weekend is a low confidence deal right now.
Joe Joyce delivers his blog this evening and I will be subbing for Todd Gutner tomorrow morning.
Make it a great week!
