8/20/11 A quiet Saturday - Rain Sunday

Saturday - A dry day is in store for much of Southern New England. A stray shower may pop up on around the Cape and Islands. Sun will break through the morning fog and low clouds as the morning wears on. Expect summer temperatures in the mid 80s.

Saturday high temperatures.

Sunday - Expecting a sunny start to the day with temperatures rising into the 80s once again. A strong cold front approaches with thunderstorms arriving in the Berkshires around 2 PM the Boston area bewteen 5 and 6. The rain and thunderstorms will be heavy and will continue into the overnight hours.  Rainfall could be on the amounts of 1-1.75" along with some hail at times. Any outdoor plans should be ready to take shelter when storms arrive.


Monday - Cool dry Canadian air filters in throughout the day. Highs in the upper 70's with comfortable humidity is expected.

Tue-Thr,   Dry and cool with highs near 80, 72-76 at the coast.

Tropical Outlook

Tropical Storm Harvey is near the coast of Belize this morning.

Harvey near Belize

What is more of interest is what could become Irene. Irene has the potential to be a nuisance to many areas.  The latest model data still shows some uncertainty shifting again. However, just be aware that a tropical cyclone could be in the New England forecast in some part for late next weekend whether it be in the form of rain or winds. That it is too soon to tell.

Model data showing "Irene" south of New England by next Monday afternoon.  This will change and become more fine tuned as the days go on. Right now, I would like to inform you of some possible adverse weather.

8/19/11 Muggy Weekend, Storms and What About Bob?

The weekend will feature typical summer weather for New England. Scattered thunderstorms are possible today later this evening with humid conditions. Storms could pop around 3-5 PM.

Also watching a developing semi Sub Tropical Nor'Easter type storm developing off of North Carolina right now. This could bring cloud cover and enhance a few showers over southern Cape Cod later today and bring some windy conditions. (As a meteorologist, I love storms like this!!)

Satellite forecast for 5 PM today. Clouds envelope the Cape and Southern MA. Scattered Thunderstorms over NH and VT.  Semi Nor'easter south of Nantucket.

Saturday, the best chance for rain and thunderstorms seems to be in the west and central part of the state. Enough of a coastal airmass (sea breeze) may set up to prevent thunderstorms from bubbling up along the immediate coast. Saturday will be the best of the weekend days with temperatures in the mid 80s and it will be humid.

Sunday offers clouds, even more humidity and areas of enhanced heavy rain and thunderstorms. Interestingly we are in this pattern where tropical air masses collide with some drier Canadian air and this allows for such heavy rains.

Cool, dry weather returns early next week.

Tropical Outlook

Again, the models are all over the place with a tropical cyclone. Last nights run shifted from having a hurricane off the coast of Maine to making landfall in Houston, TX. So nothing yet to be concerned about, but always of interest to watch. As I like to point out, the models are a guide to show you trends in the weather.  So the trend now is that we are entering into the peak of hurricane season and a coastal area from TX to Canada could see a tropical storm in the next 7-10 days.   History tells us that this is very possible.


What about Bob?

And 20 years ago today, hurricane Bob made landfall in Newport, RI, tracked over Boston and then made a second landfall in Brunswick, Maine. The last time a hurricane has directly struck New England.

Radar of Bob over Buzzards Bay.

Bob visits Boston.

The eye of Bob is seen off the coast of Gloucester, MA

Sunshine will give way to some clouds late in the day as high pressure moves offshore and brings a south west flow of air into New England.  This will raise the dew points back into the mid 60s, so it will feel more humid today than yesterday. A line of showers and thunderstorms could develop in Western MA later today and reach the Worcester area by 7 PM and Boston by 9, however these should be diminishing as the sun sets.

Satellite image for 7PM tonight, clouds move in to Boston area. (Color indicates cloud temp/height - reds thunderstorms)

Radar for 7 PM tonight.  Line of thunderstorms extends from S NH into CT. Heaviest should remain south in CT.

Friday - a cold front gets hung up over New England and stalls. This will be the focus of scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms. It will remain warm and humid.

Saturday - morning showers will give way to sunshine in the afternoon. Continued Warm.

Sunday and Monday - Strong cold front will push into the Northeast bringing in cooler air from Canada and the potential for some severe weather late on Sunday into Monday.

The weather maps next week begin to look very interesting in terms storms, fronts and hurricanes.  No threats at the moment, but it will be a busy weather week for sure. Of course I prefer to say the models are for guidance. They suggest what trends could be happening and are not exact. So with this, it is something to look at.

8/16/11 The August Nor'Easter

Nor'Easters in August, I thought that they were only in the winter?  Well, the term refers to the wind direction North East, and Boston sure had a north east wind all day yesterday with a peak gust of 38 mph.  The storm also tapped into a lot of moisture and dropped several inches of rain over the region with NYC and Long Island getting the most.

Today the wind has shifted to the north west and drier air is moving in indicating the storm has pushed past us to our east. We are now on the back side of the storm, but still under the unstable air, so rain and thunderstorms are likely today. Some peeks of sunshine are possible however early today.

Water Vapor image showing large storm over the east coast, The dark areas around it indicate dry air, this storm will push east during the day today bringing in sun for Wednesday.