October or August? It was quite impressive to see temps dip into the 50s as rain increased yesterday afternoon, allowing for it to feel like a chilly October day. In fact, the 59 degree high in Worcester was the coldest high temp for August 20th on record. With that said, the rain was needed, and many spots near and south of the Pike, picked up a health dose for the gardens and lawns.
Today, we’ll dry out with some sun returning near and northwest of Boston. Southeast Mass will hold onto mostly cloudy skies. Highs today run in the mid 60s to mid 70s, warmest across northern Mass and southern NH, coolest southeast Mass. As Hurricane Erin gets a bit closer, the breeze increases through the day out of the northeast too. Gusts inland run 15-25mph and 25-35mph at the coast this afternoon, strongest along the south coast. Winds increase this evening and peak overnight tonight-early Friday morning, gusting 40-50mph for the Cape and Islands. A wind advisory is in effect there.
Erin passes about 275mph offshore tomorrow, far enough away that we don’t get any rain out of it. In fact, overall, tomorrow, through the weekend, will offer nice summer weather. Tomorrow morning will be windy along the coast, but the breeze diminishes in the afternoon, although still breezy for the Cape and Islands.
Despite the pass well offshore, we’ll still have impacts from Erin along the coast. Erin’s wind field is large and the pressure difference from Erin and the high to our north, will drive that gusty wind.
In addition, the next two nights, a coastal flood advisory is in place for Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard for minor coastal flooding centered around midnight.
Large breaking waves over the next couple of days will also create beach erosion and dangerous rip currents. The risk for those rip currents go up today and stay high Friday into Saturday. Keep that in mind as the weekend starts. Nice beach weather returns, but the waves will be large and rip current risk high. Friday into Saturday, the waves peak around 8-13′ for eastern Mass and peak even higher east side of Cape Cod and south side of the Islands. Just offshore, waves run 12-20 feet there. Waves won’t be as high Sunday.
