Seemed ripe for thunder this afternoon, and that’s exactly what fired across Western Mass. just after lunch. As it crossed the Quabbin Reservoir, it got a second wind (literally) and slammed into Greater Worcester with downpours and wind gusts near 40mph.
Then the unraveling. As the southwest winds came off of a cool Buzzards Bay, traveling all the way up to the Merrimack Valley, they contaminated the atmosphere with debris clouds and cooler temperatures. Storms don’t like this kind of air, so they started to falter and turn to scattered downpours as they moved off of the 495 belt.
This is no surprise, however. We’ve seen this many times before. Saving grace is that we saw some beneficial rain from these downpours, and no severe weather. I’ll take that over downed trees and power lines any day.
Temperatures are on the upswing over the next few days. A front passing tonight ensures that we see a slight drop in the humidity, but we never really push refreshing air in here.
Thunder may strike on Thursday, but it will be in isolated form, not scattered like today. Another chance comes on Saturday with a more potent front. This may make for some severe weather if the setup is right. As of now, I’m holding back on raising the red flag until we can get a better handle on where the warm air will be.
Pete