Editor’s Note: Meteorological intern Tyler Hughes has blogged tonight’s blog.
Break out the barbeques – summer officially began today at 10:57am. Today is the Summer Solstice, and with that comes the longest day of the year. Mother Nature recognized that and gave us a nice day to celebrate, all things considered. Although it was a bit mild in some spots, the sun prevailed most of the day, the sky dotted by those classic fair-weather cumulus clouds. The days get shorter and shorter from here, and by the beginning of September we will have lost over two hours of daylight.
Tomorrow morning will play out much like today, with the exception of increasing cloud cover. Things start to change tomorrow afternoon, however, as high pressure moves off to our east and a warm front lifts into New England. Ahead of this front we will see afternoon/evening scattered showers move into the region.
The showers will move in from the south throughout the afternoon and become more scattered as they make their way northward. The best chance for seeing showers is along southern MA, the Cape and Islands. It’s not out of the question that southern NH and parts of the Merrimack Valley could stay dry into the evening hours.
The warm front also carries a much more humid, almost tropical-feeling airmass behind it. By the time we wake up Friday, it’ll feel like “air you can wear” outside. In other words, the frizz factor will be in full effect through the weekend.
We’ve had a comfortable June so far humidity-wise. We usually see, on average, about ten days with what I would consider “uncomfortable” dew points (65+) in Boston, but we’ve only had one so far this June. This graph will look quite a bit different by next week.
This warm, moist airmass will also once again boost our chances for scattered showers and thunderstorms through the weekend. The higher dew points mean there’s a bit more energy in the atmosphere Friday and through the weekend leading to the risk for scattered thunderstorms. Nonetheless, I think few if any would become severe. None of the days will be an all-out washout, but rather the risk of showers increases, peaking Saturday.
Although the 7-day may look grim, the risk for storms each day is scattered at best, and peeks of sunshine will be around, as well. Highs peak in the 80s this weekend before falling as we get into next week.
Hopefully this pattern will break at some point – but for now, enjoy the sunshine as it comes! Have a great night.
-Tyler