This evening we’re tracking scattered showers and storms rolling through New England. The key word here is scattered, not every town will see a storm, however any storm that does develop has the potential to be strong or severe — especially north and west of Boston. It doesn’t mean every storm will but we’ll have to watch the radar this evening. We have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 8pm but that may need to be extended if the storms keep the strong to severe potential. We’ll have storms past 8pm, the question is if they are likely to reach severe limits or not.
In general, the storms will weaken as they move south and east. The risk of strong or severe storm is more likely in the yellow shaded area (level 2 of 5 on the severe weather scale). Then down to a 1 of 5 for those inside of 495, with no severe storms expected in southeastern Massachusetts or the Cape.
Any storm that does become severe will be for either gusty wind or large hail. In fact, there have been reports across central New Hampshire this afternoon of quarter to ping-pong ball sized hail. So you might want to make sure your car is in the garage tonight if you have that possibility. Even though wind and hail are the most likely impacts for a severe storm, any storm will produce downpours, torrential rain, and frequent lightning.
While they aren’t technically qualifiers for severe weather, lightning and heavy rain can cause damage and problems of their own. So as the saying goes, “if thunder roars, go indoors”. As far as the rain threat, we’ll once again look at the possibility of flash flooding. That likelihood is more likely north of Route 2 and in northern New England, but the risk is elevated everywhere this evening and tonight.
As mentioned, we’ll keep scattered showers and thunderstorms around all night and they’ll exit by early tomorrow. Outside of a shower on the Cape before 8am, we’ll be dry Saturday. The Cape, SE Mass, and the coast may start with some clouds early Saturday as this system exits, but we’ll develop plenty of sun for much of the day. The takeaway for Saturday’s forecast is decreasing clouds and decreasing humidity as it will be a bit sticky in the morning too.
Sunday looks outstanding with sunshine, warm temperatures, and lower humidity!
