Changes Coming To A Beautiful Stretch
Find Eric Fisher on Twitter and Facebook
Well hello there! Been a while since I've had the chance to write a blog. My apologies for that, but you know how it goes when June rolls around. As New England Meteorologists we don't take much (if any) time off November through March, so it's all stacked up for the warmer months. Although last week, I wasn't on vacation, either. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend the AMS Broadcasters Conference in Olympic Valley, California. There was a great turnout (over 120 broadcast meteorologists!) with some excellent info. I put an album up on my facebook page with a few images. Always great to see what's going on in the industry and see some familiar faces.
It's also wedding season, something I'm sure all of you can relate to. Currently on a 4 weddings in 4 weeks stretch. The first was in Mexico, the next in Atlanta, the next in San Diego, and another on tap this coming weekend (thankfully in MA for a change!). That's translated in a lot of airport time...7 airports in 7 days at one point. I'm sure the rest of our esteemed weather team kept you well-informed while I was away.
That brings us to this week, which I'm guessing many of you have noticed is 'Beach Week' here at WBZ. We've been visiting the Top 5 most voted-for beaches in the area by you, the viewers. Thank you for the hundreds of votes that came in over the past couple weeks! Mayflower Beach in Dennis was up first, with Good Harbor in Gloucester second. We're headed to the South Coast today with 2 surprises coming for the end of the week. Each one of these is 1-2 hours away, so my evening time has been limited to write blogs after the long drive home.
Annnnd that brings us to the end of the excuse train :-) Here are a few thoughts on the next couple of days.
For today - 'Triple H' weather! After a great stretch of incredibly beautiful and humidity-free days, dew points are on the rise. They'll be well up into the 60s today making for a MUCH more humid day to deal with. Add in highs in the 84-89º range and it's going to be steamy out there. Prepare for a significantly different feel compared to the past few afternoons.
In terms of storms - we'll have to stay vigilant during the afternoon. Most models indicate this activity staying mainly across southern NH, but I don't like the pooling of high CAPE air here in Massachusetts. I do believe we may get some heavy downpours to develop, mainly along or north of Route 2, during the afternoon and evening. The main threat with anything that develops will be very heavy rainfall and gusty winds. The ingredients we're lacking for more significant weather are mid-level lapse rates (the air above will be quite warm today) and forcing (most of that aimed to our north). So while we've got the CAPE, heat, humidity, etc....there's not much to make it 'pop.' If you're south of Boston, I'm expecting a dry day with a mix of sun/clouds. So most of the area beaches will be in fine shape. In fact, with the heat you'll be in need of a dip in the ocean.
The highest probability of more widespread showers/downpours comes late Wednesday night through Thursday morning. The atmosphere will be pumped full of water vapor, so again very tropical downpours are the main threat here with some localized flooding. Thursday morning could be a difficult commute in spots, all dependent on where exactly those showers are during your drive. These should be enhanced by a wave of low pressure developing along the front.
Now there are some big things going on in Boston the next few days, including Billy Joel at Fenway Park Thursday night. As it stands now, I think the majority of this rain action should be winding down by concert time. Check back in for updates, but I'm feeling optimistic about this.
Friday and Saturday - the Zac Brown Band comes to Fenway Park. And for those shows, the weather should be much more agreeable. By Friday humidity levels will be dropping. None of the models are really pointing toward much action on Friday, however I'm a little concerned by the fact that we'll still be in a cyclonic flow with cool air aloft. We should see quite a few cumulus clouds pop up at the least, and there may be a couple isolated showers/storms during the afternoon. That's a potential we'll keep an eye on for you.
On Saturday it's still cool aloft and the ridge won't have completely built in yet, but there's a good chance the vast majority will stay dry with a beautiful sun/cloud mix and highs in the low 80s. Great start to the weekend, even better on Sunday! Ridge in control, warm temps in the 80s, manageable humidity. Another weekend win after a beauty last week. Then the heat is on to start next week with upper 80s to near 90 on Monday and Tuesday.
