#IMHO, the weather could not have been more perfect this weekend. Especially when you take into account the crazy weather in other parts of the country; heat indices up around 120° in some spots, wildfires in California, tracking Tropical Depression Four down in the Gulf of Mexico… There’s just a lot going on elsewhere – but not really here. We’ve had high pressure in control, keeping things dry and sunny… and admittedly, a little “boring” (just the way I like the forecast)! When I do my school visits, I always tell the students that the letter “H” on a weather map stands for “high pressure” and “HAPPY.” Sinking air means warming air, and we’ve enjoyed highs into the 80s in many spots for both Saturday and Sunday. Since the beginning of April, we’ve only had TWO completely dry weekends; every other weekend, either Saturday or Sunday has featured some type of wet weather (and at the beginning of April it was SNOW). ***Leave it to me to put that dreaded S-word right in the middle of a blog about the beginning of summer! :c)
No “bummer” about this weekend, though. No need for Downer Debbie’s “Wah Wah” sound effect on a weekend like this.
Did you love today’s weather? Did Dad miss most of the nice afternoon because he was busy napping?! He deserves it! And if anyone missed today on account of working, staying inside, traveling outside of the New England area… never fear! We get to do today again tomorrow. Monday’s highs may even be a smidgen warmer than today. We’re into the 80s again to kick off the work week under mostly sunny skies.
Side note: The moon is bright tonight, because it’s ALMOST full. The full “Strawberry” moon is full at 7:06am Monday, and it’s the 4th full moon of SPRING! Yes, you read that right… Most of the day tomorrow is still “astronomical spring” because the Summer Solstice isn’t until 6:34pm. That is the exact time that the sun will be over 23.5°N, or the Tropic of Cancer. It’s also the beginning of winter for the Southern Hemisphere (sorry, Australia). 
I hope this picture helps you visualize the reason for the season – but oddly enough, the solstices are also the times when the earths orbit path is farthest from the sun (see above). Our summertime “heat” isn’t about being close to the sun, but rather because the sun’s rays have the most direct path to us. Here’s another picture: 
Here are some other fun facts about the Summer Solstice if you’d like some “light” reading material for the single 24-hour period where we enjoy the most daylight hours during year (see what I did there? Light = Daylight, about 15 hours and 17 minutes of it): http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/facts-about-june-solstice.html
Now, back to our weather forecast: Monday is warm and dry, but it will also be breezy again. Just like today, we have a breeze coming in from the south, which will mean cooler temperatures for the South Coast, Cape and islands. Still, enjoyable overall. Fancy a beach day to ring in summer? It’s a great day for it! But remember what I said about the sun being at it’s STRONGEST right now. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to develop a sunburn. So, I don’t care how great your “base tan” is, BRING THE SPF 30+ WITH YOU AND APPLY OFTEN! Nothing like a sunburn to create a summer bummer. Please take care of your skin. We only get one. :c)
Overnight Monday, changes start to become apparent. Humidity will be on the increase, and a cold front will move in from the WNW. The three main ingredients you need for thunderstorms to form are moisture (check), lift (like a front – check), and instability (cold air above warm air – check). The key thing in this scenario though, is the timing of the front. If we were to have the front moving through after we’ve had sufficient daytime heating (afternoon/evening), then we’d probably see strong to severe storms develop. However, this front looks like it’s going to move through earlier in the day, which means we may still get a rumble of thunder out of this – but nothing crazy. In any case, we’ll have to keep an eye on the timing of this as we get closer to Tuesday.
Thursday & Friday, forecast models are hinting at a system to our south. It may miss us completely, but some model runs have given us some rain out of this. We’ll be watching this, too.
Lastly, looking into my crystal ball, I see a big warm up for next weekend. Quite possibly even 90s in the forecast? Could be! Of course, the forecast can always change, but as always – STAY TUNED!!
and MOST IMPORTANTLY: HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!!! 