4/3/12 How does it feel to be normal?

After several months of warm weather, April is trending now to be pretty much normal. There are no major cold spells seen, nor are there any major warm ups as well. 

Pretty much, temperatures holding in the 50s and maybe a 60.  If anything, the progression of the spring season is setting up as it should with New England, the last to get into the warmer weather, but just go several hundred miles south and warmer air tends to be in place.

This true color image from Modis from yesterday shows how spring is moving up from the south to the north. The green is picking up all vegetation including trees, grass and crops. In the northeast, and Canada, the trees are still budded and there are more trees than open grassy areas so it is still picking up the barren landscape. (I will post later today's cloudless image if available)

New England is cut off from the warming high to the south and is primarily under the influence of a cooler Canadian high pressure that will allow for cooler air to flow into the region. This air is not necessarily colder, it just keeping the overall temperatures near normal with colder nights and mild days. This pattern looks to hold on for the next two weeks.  Weak storms will move along the jet stream which will wobble back and forth to reinforce the cooler air with a day or two of warmer weather possible. Meanwhile, Spring and warmth remain to the just to the south.

With this all stated, temperatures will still be slightly above normal, in the Boston area. The ocean will influence the air temperatures over much of coastal New England with inland areas reaching the 60s and immediate coastal locations will fail to reach 50.  This can be expected in such a pattern.

Inland areas will reach the 60s, where the coastal locations will be influenced by the ocean and be cooler today. Expect full sunshine.

Temperatures will be cooler along the Cape and the Coast during the week ahead.