At 5 AM this morning the National Hurricane Center (NHC) officially declared Matthew a “post-tropical cyclone.” That might sound familiar because we talked about it quite a bit when Hermine impacted our weather. So, if you need a refresher on what that means, check out this blog or this blog.
In this case, Matthew is merging with a cold front. As that transition is taking place, strong winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere are spreading tropical moisture from Matthew north along the front. Matthew dumped 10-15″ of rain across a wide swath of South and North Carolina already this weekend as this graphic from the National Weather Service shows…
They don’t need anymore! But we could sure use some of that! Through yesterday, Boston has only received 22.39″ of precipitation for the entire year. That’s 10.69″ BELOW average! Ask and you shall receive! Mother nature is spreading the wealth today. That, by the way, is the entire point of a hurricane – spread warm, moist air from the tropics toward the cool, dry polar regions and balance out the atmosphere.
That means its will be a great day to sit inside at watch sports on TV with your favorite comfort food and beverage. Its Boston vs. Cleveland day. The weather in Cleveland looks great, so no worries about the Pats game weather-wise. The weather at Fenway will be “iffy.” I expect by that point Boston will be right on the edge of the steady rain. If the game were being played in Plymouth, I’d say “they’re going to have to postpone it”…steady rain almost all day there. If the game were being played in Methuen I’d say “looks good, have fun”…rain should taper off there this afternoon. But Boston is almost too close to call. If you have tickets to the game (lucky you!)…plan on it being damp and cool and don’t be surprised by a brief rain delay, but I remain hopeful that they get the game in.
Skies clear out overnight and we are expecting sunshine on Monday. Despite the sun it will be a touch cooler than normal and a brisk wind will definitely make it feel like fall. The rest of the week looks very quiet…enjoy!