The Omega pattern I described in last weekend’s weather blog is solidly entrenched across North America. "But wait Rob, you said that means we would get stuck with gloomy weather for days" you ask. Well the whole pattern shifted slightly east, so rather than getting stuck with cloudy skies for days, we are "stuck" with sunny skies for days. But just barely! In fact, as I write this, the back edge of the cloud cover is only 15 miles east of the Cape!!
That’s about as close as the ocean storm will get to us today. The closer approach will mean at least a few clouds will mix in the skies over the Cape and the Islands. The rest of New England will see nothing but sunshine on Saturday. The closer proximity of the storm will also kick up a breeze, especially near the coast where gusts to 40 mph will be possible. The combination of very dry air and gusty winds means that fires will tend to start and spread very quickly so the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for most of the area for the increased risk of wildfires. Nantucket, the area likely to see the strongest winds, is also under a Wind Advisory.
As the ocean storm pulls away, winds will relax Saturday night. The combination of clear skies and light winds will allow temperatures well inland to bottom out in the upper 20s and low 30s. Near the coast, the temperatures will stay in the low 40s.
Winds will be lighter on Sunday, but still onshore. That will keep temperatures near the coast from warming out of the 50s. Meanwhile, temperatures well inland will soar well up into the 60s.
The warming trend continues in Monday. Winds will be light and variable which makes the temperature forecast very tricky for Boston. Without much of a prevailing wind, a sea breeze will kick in Monday afternoon. Boston may briefly see temperatures warm into the low 60s around midday before that sea breeze kicks in and cools the air back into the 50s later in the afternoon. Areas west of 128 will see temps in the low 70s Monday afternoon!! So the elite runners will experience a coolish (upper 40s to low 50s) start to the race and a warmish (low 60s) finish. Those in the 3rd and 4th waves will see a warmish (upper 50s to low 60s) start to the race and a coolish (mid 50s) finish.
The weather pattern finally breaks down Monday night as a cold front moves in. The front will bring us a few spotty showers off and on Monday night into Tuesday and some MUCH cooler weather for Tuesday and Wednesday. That will be brief…expect another warming trend for late next week.
I think most people will agree with something the National Weather Service noted Saturday morning…it’s fine to be stuck in a stagnant weather pattern if one is in the part with no stormy weather. And if my 7 day forecast from last weekend has to be wrong, at least it turned out better than expected rather than worse than expected. I’d much rather be on this side of the Omega pattern!