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July 4th Weekend Forecast: When We'll See Rain, Sunshine In Boston Area

BOSTON (CBS) -- You just can't make this stuff up. After three days of record heat in southern New England, our weather is about to change in a major way, just in time for the Fourth of July weekend. Wouldn't you know it.

Granted a small change wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, I mean I doubt many of you want 100-degree heat while you are cooking on the grill. But, here in New England, we don't do "small weather changes," we like to go big. I'd say a 40-degree drop in daytime highs between Wednesday and Saturday would qualify as big. Or how about 1-4" of rain in the next 48-72 hours? That dramatic enough for you?

OK, before you start losing you mind, let me back up a bit. Let me start you off with the good news: This weekend won't be nearly as cool or wet as Memorial Day weekend. Maybe you had blocked that one out? Let me briefly remind you. . .

Friday, May 28: 62 degrees, 1.1" of rainfall

Saturday, May 29: 51 degrees, 1.1" rainfall

Sunday, May 30: 51 degrees, 0.7" rainfall

Monday, May 31: 62 degrees, 0.2" rainfall

That was an all-time bad holiday weekend for anyone with outdoor plans. This weekend will not be THAT bad. . .

So what are we looking at?

4th blog forecast
(WBZ-TV graphic)

Friday:

Forecast: Steady (heavy at times) rain in the morning, tapering to showers in the afternoon and evening.

Temperatures: Generally in the 60s for highs, some areas dropping into the 50s in the afternoon.

Sunshine (1-10): 1, no sunshine, socked in the clouds all day mountaintop to seashore.

Beach & Boating: High tide at 6:05 a.m., steady northeast wind 10-20 mph. . . NOT a beach day.

Cape Cod: Clouds, rain, 60s

Lakes & Mountains: Clouds, showers, 55-65 degrees

Saturday:

Forecast: Off and on rain showers most of the day along with areas of mist/drizzle.

Temperatures: 55-65 for highs, nearly 15-20 degrees below the average!

Sunshine (1-10): 1, very little, if any, sunshine anywhere in New England.

Beach & Boating: High tide at 7:02 a.m., north-northeast winds 10-20 mph. . . again, NOT a beach day

Cape Cod: Clouds, showers, 60s

Lakes & Mountains: Clouds, showers, mainly in the upper 50s

beach boating
(WBZ-TV graphic)

Sunday:

Forecast: Isolated light showers, especially early, some peeks of sunshine likely late in the day/evening.

Temperatures: 65-70 degrees, inching upward. . .

Sunshine (1-10): 4, nothing in the morning but developing breaks of sunshine here and there in the afternoon and evening.

Beach & Boating: High tide at 7:58 a.m., northwest to northeast, 5-10 mph (bit stiffer Outer Cape). . . far from an ideal beach day but some improvements from Fri-Sat.

Cape Cod: Morning drizzle, PM breaks, 60s. . . bit of a gusty NNE wind.

Lakes & Mountains: AM clouds, PM breaks, 60s

fireworks forecast
(WBZ-TV forecast)

Monday:

Forecast: Partly sunny, slight chance of an isolated shower, pick of the weekend.

Temperatures: 75-82 degrees, back to average.

Sunshine (1-10): 8, finally! A good deal of sunshine expected.

Beach & Boating: High tide at 8:53 a.m., light west wind. . . clearly the best beach day of the bunch.

Cape Cod: Party sunny, low 70s, light wind

Lakes & Mountains: Partly sunny, 75-82.

Stay safe and enjoy the weekend!

Follow Terry on Twitter @TerryWBZ

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