Nasty day with that wind. Midday wind gusts led to dozens of reports of wind damage across southern New England. Here is a list of the peak gusts:
The top three wind speeds on the list are as strong as what we typically see with severe thunderstorms! If there was any saving grace it was a lack of foliage on the trees—when the trees are leafless the strong wind can freely “pass through” the tree but when leaves are present, they tend to block the flow of the wind which leads to more turbulent wind flow. More turbulent wind means more damage to tree limbs/trees.
The wind is due to a pressure difference in the atmosphere–Low Pressure up across the Maritimes and High Pressure out in the Great Lake states. Ma Nature likes things in balance (like Yoda & the Force) and to achieve that between low and high pressure is….wind. That wind will fade away overnight.
Next up, our attention turns to an arctic front. Yup, that’s right, an arctic front will blast through southern New England tomorrow evening ushering in some very cold air for the weekend. Here are some deets on that front:
Ugh…..it’s why March can be so frustrating….days like Saturday that will feel more like Janaury 4th..not March 4th. In fact, we have a chance at a record “cold” high temp on Saturday!:
Meaning…the coldest daytime temp on March 4th in Boston weather history is 21 degrees back in 1896. If our temp equals that or is lower, then it’s a new record “cold” high temp. Unreal. Sunday sees temps starting close to 10 but then bounce into the mid 30s by afternoon–closer to our normal high of 42. Both days will be sunny–se we have that going for us…which is nice.
~JR