Looks were deceiving today with abundant sunshine! Although at this point, it would be nice to see a rain cloud. We’ll take any rain. Today’s updated U.S. Drought Monitor puts 68% of Massachusetts in severe drought. That doubled from last week, up from about 32%. This week more of western Mass is under the “severe” category.
Unfortunately, we keep the incredibly dry and breezy pattern Friday which elevates our risk for brush fires. A Red Flag Warning is in effect tomorrow for Massachusetts from 7 am – 6 pm. Northwest winds will gust 20-25 mph and relative humidity as low as 20%.
Any rain the next several days? I took the rain icon off for Monday on our 7-day forecast. It looks like a sprinkle at best, and even before today we were looking at about a 10% chance. It’s “dry” weather on repeat.
Any good weather news? The temperatures will start to rebound and feel nice into the weekend. After another cold morning, we’ll reach the mid 50s tomorrow. The weekend will bring us chilly mornings in the 30s followed by highs rebounding into the 50s/near 60°.
Looking ahead, Tuesday will likely be another day to watch for Red Flag Warning conditions as the wind gets gusty. Less wind Wednesday. Then later in the week, models are trending toward rain as early as Wednesday night into Thursday. Looks like some moisture from what is now Tropical Storm Sara could get pulled up the East Coast. The GFS and Canadian ensemble forecasts show a 60% for showers come Thursday.
-Meteorologist Melanie Black