9/16/11 Crisp morning greetings!

The cool weather will remain with us for the next several days.

Scattered frost can be expected in the coldest valley areas.

Blame the salting of Irene for the "dead" trees along the coast.

Earlier this week, as I was driving in Nahant, I notice that all of the trees that lined the road along the ocean had all lost their leaves or they were all brown. In fact the scene looked more like November than mid September.  It is way too soon for autumn to strike to coastal areas of New England, let alone peak in the far northern reaches of Vermont and NH is still 2 weeks away.

Tree's in Swampscott, MA  mostly "dead"

Then, I drove along the coast of Swampscott and Lynn 2 days later and noticed the same thing, that all of the trees immediately along the coastline have all lost their leaves or are all brown, with the same type of trees just 100 yards inland, green and vibrant as ever with no hint of a change in color. In some instances the leaves facing the ocean were brown the obverse sides are still green.

The left side trees face the ocean, whereas the ones to the right are blocked by the front trees away from the ocean.

This got me thinking, why?  Then a question was posed to me if Irene's wind could have damaged the trees.  After some Q & A's I finally got an answer that may suit the curious.

After about 12 hours of strong 40 - 60 mph wind gusts coming in directly off the ocean with significant sea spray. A layer of salt water encrusted on the leaves of the tree's closest to the coastline.   Salt then acts to draw out the moisture from the deciduous tree leaves and hence after a few weeks will kill the leaves.

The protected buds that are on the trees for next spring are designed to withstand the harsh winter climate ahead and this salting should have no effects next year.

9/15/11 The Death of Summer... for some

A strong cold front will push through New England today, around 2 pm in the Boston area.

Most of the rain is behind the cold front today (known as an anafront). Once the front passes, the wind will shift to the north west and become quite breezy.  The temperature will slowly drop, but one thing you will notice is how much drier the air will feel as we go from a dewpoint temperature of 67 to 34 degrees.  Yes, it will feel dry and crisp by this time tomorrow morning. But until then, it will be humid for most of the day.


Rain should start this afternoon with some thunderstorms possible at the onset and continue on and off until midnight when the sky will clear and it will become quite chilly.

Friday morning Low temperature map. Areas within the dark red line could see frost by early Friday morning.

Tomorrow we will see a brisk northwest wind and temperatures only reaching the lower 60s, with very low humidity.

Friday High Temperatures

Friday night into Saturday morning will feature the coolest air mass over New England this late summer with more widespread frost possible over MA.  Areas inside 495 will not see frost. Keep in mind that the temperature at the ground can cool even more than the air temperature reported.

Saturday morning lows across New England will be quite chilly (for Sept standards) Inside the red line is where frost can be possible.  Areas in NH, VT and ME with the light blue will have temperatures near or below 32F / 0C.  Coastal areas will be the warmest.

9/14/2011 Here comes our first fall cool down.

Enjoy the last day of 80 degree weather for a while as a cool air mass from Canada settles in Friday.   Many areas will be seeing a 40-50 degree drop in temperatures from today and that of Saturday morning.

Cold air building in Canada will push south and east over the weekend. Currently we are still in a warm flow of air from the south

Friday and Saturday mornings will be downright chilly and frosty in some areas. Any location to the left of the red line could see some frost Saturday Morning.

9/12/11 Warm & Humid to start.. Crisp and dry to end the week.

Fall will be in the air later this week as a strong cold front will usher in the coolest air of the season for a lot of the country as well as the first frosts and freezes.

We can expect a few nice days though before hand with highs in the upper 70's and lowers 80.  Rain will push in late Tuesday into Wednesday with a slow moving cold front, however it will be another cold front that moves in on Thursday that will bring the crisp of fall to the air. The cool air will last through the weekend and then warm again next week.

Some areas in the deeper valleys of NH, ME and VT will see their first frost Friday morning.