Boston Weather: Severe Thunderstorms Possible Friday Afternoon

BOSTON (CBS) -  Thursday will be a perfect Spring day. Temperatures will climb into the 60's to near 70 in spots inland. Winds will be light and expect mostly sunny skies. Pollen levels will be running high, but that's typical for this time of the year. Hopefully you can get out and enjoy, because the risk of wet weather returns tonight into tomorrow.

STORM POTENTIAL

Clouds will increase late Thursday ahead of an approaching storm system that will impact the area on Friday. The first wave of showers are likely overnight into Friday morning. This is part of a warm front that will push through New England during the day. As the warm front lifts north, temps will soar into the 70's. The question is how far north does the front get before stalling across New England.

Some parts of southern New Hampshire may get stuck in the 60's with even cooler conditions north. We'll also see slightly cooler conditions along the South Coast, Cape and Islands with a wind off the water. Muggy air will also invade the region, so it will feel more like late Spring with the higher humidity.

There will be some periods of dry weather on Friday, especially late morning into the early afternoon, along with a few breaks in the clouds. Any bit of sunshine we get will only fuel the development of more showers and thunderstorms later in the evening ahead of a cold front.

Some of these storms may be strong to severe Friday afternoon and evening. The main threat would be damaging wind gusts, hail, heavy downpours and we can't rule out a brief tornado. Central and western Mass., southern New Hampshire and Vermont have the greatest potential of these severe thunderstorms.

The front will clear the region Friday night with improvement for the weekend.

WEEKEND

The weekend will be mainly dry as high pressure builds into the area. Saturday will feature partly sunny conditions with temperatures in the 60's at the coast, but inland spots may near 70 degrees depending on the amount of sunshine we see.

Sunday will be a little cooler in the mid 60's, but that is seasonable for this time of year. Clouds will increase ahead our next system for early next week, with the risk of some late day showers. The risk of rain is possible Sunday night lingering through midweek as low pressure moves through the area and interacts with a potential tropical wave or low pressure system.

So let's talk about the Tropics. Hurricane season officially begins June 1st, but in the last three years, we've seen tropical development before that date.

This weekend, a "subtropical" depression or storm is expected to form off the southeast coast just north of the Bahamas. If it is named, it will be called Arthur.

While the low is forecast to stay offshore and push out into the Atlantic, it will interact with the storm system pushing through our area next week by keeping a cool, damp pattern in place. The anticipated warm-up late week, may get squashed with this system lingering to the south. Definitely not set in stone, but something to watch in the next few days.