Once again, we’ve got good news and bad news for the week ahead. The bad news is that the middle of the week will feature one, possibly two, absolutely miserable days. The good news? The end of the week will feature some fantastic weather. That makes us think of a certain move theme.

The week starts off with high pressure in control, giving us a fairly nice Monday, but things go downhill for Tuesday and Wednesday. Low pressure that is bringing very heavy rainfall to the Carolinas today will slowly move up the coastline. This will result in rain, gusty winds, and cool temperatures for Tuesday, likely lingering into Wednesday. In other words, typical springtime weather in New England. The system will depart on Thursday, then a south to southwesterly flow will develop across the area. This means warmer conditions are likely for Thursday and Friday. How warm? How does highs into the 70s, possibly 80s on Friday, sound? Yeah, we thought you might like that. A cold front approaches late Friday with some showers, but it may not move through until sometime on Saturday, resulting in another warm day. Much cooler conditions are expected on Sunday with more rain possible as a frontal system will be stalled out just south of the region.

Monday: Sunshine and some high clouds. High 57-64 along the coast, 65-72 inland.

Monday night: Becoming mostly cloudy, showers may develop towards daybreak. Low 39-46.

Tuesday: Breezy and cool with showers likely. High 44-51.

Tuesday night: Windy with showers becoming a steady rain, possibly heavy. Low 41-48 in the evening, then temperatures hold steady or rise a bit overnight.

Wednesday: Windy with showers gradually tapering off. High 55-62.

Thursday: Maybe a lingering shower early, otherwise clouds give way to some afternoon sunny breaks. High 65-72, cooler along the coast.

Friday: A mix of sun and clouds, chance for showers and maybe a thunderstorm late in the day. High 73-80, cooler along the coast.

Saturday: Sunshine fades behind increasing late-day clouds. Showers may develop at night. High 70-77.

Sunday:  Mostly cloudy with scattered showers possible. High 52-59 along the coast, 60-67 inland.

While we’re looking at some nice weather for the end of the week, a storm system will likely be making plenty of headlines in the nation’s midsection Friday and into next weekend. Severe weather may be fairly widespread ahead of the system from the Southern Plains and Texas into the Mississippi Valley, Gulf Coast, and Southeast. Behind the system, a late-season snowstorm is possible from the Rockies into the Northern Plains. It’s still several days away, but the mountains could pick up substantial amounts of snow from this storm, with heavy snow possible in places like Denver and Rapid City.

We’ve made it to Patriots Day, a true “Boston Holiday”, and usually the final sign that winter is over and Spring has arrived. So, does that hold true this year? Probably.

 

As for the upcoming week, we’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that Monday will be another fantastic day with partial sunshine and temperatures in the 60s to lower 70s. The bad news? Much of the rest of the week won’t be so nice. Let’s get to the details.

Monday starts off with low pressure head into the Atlantic Canada and high pressure starting to build in from the west and northwest. This will result in sunshine and gusty westerly winds.  Temperatures will still be on the warm side, but about 15-20 degrees cooler than they were on Sunday. By Tuesday, high pressure moves into Atlantic Canada, meaning we still have sunshine, but northeast to east winds off of the 45-degree Atlantic Ocean mean that temperatures will drop another 10-15 degrees or so. By Wednesday, winds shift back to the southwest. This is good, because we’ll turn warmer, right? Well, yes, it will be a little milder, but also a lot cloudier and probably wetter as some rain moves in. Another cold front will move through very slowly on Thursday, possibly stalling out across the region as another storm starts to move out of the Great Lakes. This means more rain for Thursday into Friday. Temperatures on Friday are a big question mark, especially south of the Mass Pike. It all depends on where the low pressure area actually tracks. If it stays south of New England as one models shows, temperatures may stay in the 40s all day. If it tracks along and/or north of the Mass Pike, as another model showers, temperatures could spike into the 60s and lower 70s south of the Pike while areas to the north stay in the upper 40s and 50s. For now, we’ll split the difference and go in the middle, but there is a large bust potential for that forecast. As the system moves offshore early Saturday, cooler air will settle in behind it. If the cooler air moves in overnight before the rain ends, we could see some wet snowflakes mix in, especially across central and northern NH, as well as in the Monadnocks. Saturday will be a windy and cool day with plenty of clouds, and maybe even a lingering shower or two. High pressure returns for Sunday.

Monday: Sunshine dimmed by some high clouds at times in the afternoon, breezy at times. High 66-73.

Monday night: Clear to partly cloudy. Low 36-43.

Tuesday: Low clouds, fog, and drizzle may move in along the coast, well inland skies should be partly to mostly sunny. High 45-52, coolest along the coast.

Tuesday night: Partly to mostly cloudy.  Low 32-39.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. High 47-54.

Thursday: Cloudy with occasional showers. High 50-57.

Friday: Breezy with periods of rain and showers likely. High 50-57.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy and windy with lingering showers. High 48-55.

Sunday:  A mix of sun and clouds. High 54-61.

Marathon/Red Sox Forecast: Sunshine and some high clouds. West to west-northwest winds 10-15 mph may gusts to 25 mph at times (that’s a nice tail wind for the runners, and blowing out to right-center field at Fenway). Temperatures in the middle 60s at the start, upper 60s for the 1st pitch at Fenway, and near or just over 70 when the 1st runners cross the finish line. Expect the Marathon to be won by someone from Kenya (usually a safe bet) and we’re predicting for a Sox win as well. Hopefully, the winning ways will continue on Causeway Street in the evening when the Bruins take on the Senators.

Blizzards. Arctic Outbreaks. Freezing Rain. Scraping your windshield. Getting stuck behind a conga line of plows on the highway. Common occurrences in winter, and you’ve been dealing with them for several months while dreaming of sunshine and warmer days. You can stop dreaming now, because those days have arrived. They may not last long though, so you’d better enjoy them while they are here.

High pressure will move offshore today, with southwesterly winds bringing warm air into the region today into Tuesday. If you live along the South Coast or especially the Cape, it won’t be quite as warm, as southwest winds will be a seabreeze coming off the still fairly cool ocean. Away from the South Coast, we’re looking at highs well into the 70s, with some places possibly getting into the 80s on Tuesday. Yes, we’re serious, April Fool’s Day was over a week ago. Wednesday is the tricky day. Low pressure will pass by to the north, dragging a cold front across the region, likely producing scattered showers and maybe some thunder. It will still be warm ahead of the front, though the cloud cover and showers will prevent it from getting as warm as Tuesday. However, if we can get some sunshine to develop, temperatures could get into the 70s one more time. We snap back to reality on Thursday as high pressure builds in with much more seasonable conditions lasting into Friday. We’ll start to warm up again for the weekend, but another system will approach from the west, with some more showers possible on Sunday.

We’re not quite ready to say that it’s OK to put away all of your winter gear just yet, this is New England after all, and we’ve had measurable snow into mid-May before. However, we’re getting close. One of the longer-range models shows the potential for at least some wet snow to mix in with some rain across parts of the region towards the middle of next week. That’s still a long ways off, and has plenty of time to change. This same model also shows the potential for the latter half of April to be very wet, which could result in a lot of flooding around here. We’ll worry about that later on though. For now, enjoy the warm weather.

Monday: Sunshine dimmed by some high clouds, breezy. High 69-76, except 61-68 along the South Coast, even cooler on the Cape and Islands.

Monday night: Clear to partly cloudy. Low 48-55.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny through some high clouds once again. High 75-82, except 67-74 along the South Coast, even cooler on the Cape and Islands.

Tuesday night: Thickening clouds. Low 49-56.

Wednesday: Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers developing, maybe even a few rumbles of thunder. High 65-72 by midday, cooler across the Cape and Islands. Temperatures will likely drop sharply in the afternoon, especially north and west of Boston.

Thursday: A mix of sun and clouds. High 53-60, coolest along the coast.

Friday: Plenty of sunshine. High 51-58, coolest along coast.

Saturday:  Mostly sunny to start, clouds start to move in during the afternoon. High 56-63, coolest along coast.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. High 66-73, except 58-65 along the South Coast, even cooler on the Cape and Islands.

Marathon Monday Outlook: A mix of sunshine and clouds. Temperatures in the lower to middle 50s for the start of the race in Hopkinton, rising to the lower to middle 60s for the end of the race and start of the Red Sox traditional 11:05am Patriots Day game.

 

Good news! We’ve flipped the calendar to April and now we’ve got the surest sign yet that Spring has arrived:

The sun is shining and the Yankees are already in last place. Can things get better? Unfortunately, in terms of the weather, the answer is: “not this week”. Monday is definitely the pick of the week.

We start with high pressure bringing us sunshine and seasonably cool temperatures. However, by the time we get to the final out at Fenway today, clouds should already be streaming into the region. The storm system that brought all the severe weather to Texas and the Gulf Coast on Sunday will head into the Great Lakes by Tuesday, sending some rain into our area. The rain may start as a little freezing rain or sleet in southern NH Tuesday morning, but otherwise, this storm will be mainly liquid until it ends Wednesday morning. Wednesday looks mostly dry, but after that, we’ve got another slow-moving system heading our way from the Great Lakes. This one will bring in more rain for Thursday into Friday. Clouds and showers may linger into Saturday as an upper-level system moves through, but things should start to improve by Sunday as high pressure starts to build back in.

There are some models that are showing the potential for warmer weather to finally move in early next week for at least a couple of days. That’s still a long ways off though, so don’t count on it just yet. We wouldn’t put away the snowbrush either, just in case. We have had measurable snow around here in May before.

Monday: Morning sunshine fades behind increasing afternoon clouds. High 51-58, cooler right along the coast.

Monday night: Cloudy with showers developing, possibly starting as some sleet or freezing rain in southern NH. Low 31-38.

Tuesday: Breezy with rain likely. High 39-46.

Tuesday night: Showers taper off and end. Low 33-40.

Wednesday: More clouds than sunshine, chance for a shower or two, mainly in the morning.  High 46-53.

Thursday: Windy with rain likely.  High 44-51.

Friday: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. High 49-56.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with more showers possible. High 47-54.

Sunday:  A mix of sun and clouds. High 48-55.

First Pitch Forecast: Sunshine dimmed by high clouds, winds blowing in from CF, and a game-time temperature around 48 degrees. Go Sox! #WinDanceRepeat

As we prepare to flip the calendar from March into April, it looks like a week of typical springtime weather in New England is in the forecast. What exactly is “typical springtime weather” in New England? Why, it’s a little bit of everything. Let’s get to the details.

The week starts off chilly and damp as a warm front tries to approach from the south. As rain moves in ahead of it, temperatures will be on the cool side, so we may even see a little freezing rain in the morning well north and west of Boston. If you live there or have to head there in the morning, take things a little on the slow side. The rest of Monday will be fairly wet, as a wave of low pressure rides along that front across the region. We’re not sure that front ever makes it completely across the region, so if you were expecting some milder conditions, you may be out of luck, especially the farther north you head. Another wave of low pressure rides along the front on Tuesday, giving us more rainfall. While a couple of cool and wet days doesn’t sound good, the rain is beneficial. We are still in a drought across the region, and need plenty more rainfall to break it.

 

Once that wave of low pressure moves by Tuesday night, high pressure then builds in for Wednesday and Thursday. So, we’ll finally get some sunshine again, especially away from the coastline, but it will remain on the cool side, with temperatures staying a little below normal. (Highs should generally be in the lower to middle 50s as we head into early April.) This brings us to Friday and Saturday. Another system will approach from the west very slowly, and likely pass to our south. That means another extended period of precipitation across the region. Notice, we said “precipitation” and not “rain”. That’s because it might not all be just rain. Yup, the dreaded “S-word” is possible again. It’s a little too early to tell how likely it is, but the best chance for any accumulating snow would probably be in the higher terrain. As we head into April, it becomes tougher and tougher to get accumulating snow around here, especially during the daytime. Oh, it’s happened plenty of times, but you need things to be set up just right, and this doesn’t look to be that type of setup right now. Showers may linger around here into Sunday before high pressure starts to build in again. Right now next Monday looks partly cloudy and seasonably cool. If you have to ask why we’ve included Monday, then you’re probably not from around here.

Monday: Periods of rain, possibly some freezing rain well north and west of Boston in the morning. High 37-44, except 44-51 south of Boston.

Monday night: Rain tapers off in the evening, then becoming mostly cloudy with some patchy drizzle. Low 33-40.

Tuesday: Cloudy with rain and showers redeveloping. High 47-54.

Tuesday night: Cloudy with showers tapering off and ending. Low 34-41.

Wednesday: Skies may remain cloudy with some lingering drizzle or showers along the coast, becoming partly to mostly sunny well inland. High 45-52, coolest along the coast.

Thursday: Partly to mostly sunny. High 42-49, coolest along the coast.

Friday: Becoming cloudy with showers developing, possibly mixing with or changing to snow well north and west of Boston, especially at night. High 40-47.

Saturday: Breezy with rain likely, possibly mixed with snow well north and west of Boston. High 39-46.

Sunday: Cloudy skies with showers possibly lingering in eastern areas into the morning. High 46-53.

Finally, here’s something that we find this interesting, and since this is our blog, we’re going to tell you about it. There’s a tropical disturbance east-northeast of the Bahamas that is being watched for development right now. Yes, it’s March. No, it’s not unheard of, though it is fairly rare. It’s not expected to develop into a tropical system, but could become quite a gale in the North Atlantic this week.

 

Astronomical spring starts today at 6:29am, and for part of this week, it will actually feel like Spring. Of course, that means part of the week won’t feel like Spring. Sorry to disappoint you, but the parts that don’t feel like Spring won’t feel like Summer. Yup, that means they’ll feel like Winter. It is still March after all.

The week will start off with low pressure continuing to pull away from the area and high pressure building in. That means sunshine, diminishing winds and mild temperatures. A weak front moves through tonight, bringing some clouds with it, and little more than that. Tuesday will have plenty of clouds and some sunny breaks, but it will be a few degrees warmer than Monday. We’re heading in the right direction, right? Wrong. A stronger cold front moves through Tuesday night, with a few snow showers possible. Skies quickly clear out behind it giving us plenty of sunshine on Wednesday, but it will be windy and much colder. Possibly even cold enough to set a few records. Yeah, that’s cold. High pressure builds in later Wednesday into Thursday with sunshine, diminishing winds. We start to warm up on Friday as a warm front approaches, possibly bringing a few showers with it. Whether that warm front actually makes it through or not is still not set in stone.

This brings us to next weekend. This is where things get complicated. If the warm front moves through, Temperatures on Saturday could spike into the 60s in many areas, especially if we get any sunshine. If the front doesn’t come through, we might stay in the 40s all day. For now, we’ll stay right in the middle, with upper 40s to middle 50s, but please realize that temperatures could be considerably warmer or colder than what we are forecasting at the moment. Regardless of whether the warm front moves through, a cold front will drop southward across the region later on Saturday, bringing in some showers and cooler conditions, especially if we get into the warm air. That front will stall out south of New England on Sunday while a wave of low pressure moves along it. Exactly how quickly that wave moves along the front and how far south the front stalls are key to the forecast. Right now, it looks to be a little too far south and moving a little too quickly, which means that most of the precipitation moves out before the colder air settles in. That means the rain may end as some snow on Sunday, with only a little accumulation in some spots. However, there are some models that have the front stall a little closer to the South Coast, and the wave moves through a little slower. The result is a better chance of some accumulating snow later Sunday into Monday, and for at least one model, a lot more accumulating snow. For now, we’re leaning towards the solution with little to no snow, but the potential is there for more snow across the area. If anything does materialize, we’ll let you know later in the week. For now, don’t worry about changing any plans, but just keep an eye on the forecast on the off-chance that this does become a problem.

Monday: Mostly sunny skies with diminishing winds. Clouds start to move in late in the day. High 44-51.

Monday night: Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 25-32.

Tuesday: Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 47-54.

Tuesday night: Slight chance for a rain or snow shower, then clearing skies and windy. Low 25-32.

Wednesday: Becoming mostly sunny, windy, and colder. High 30-37.

Thursday: Plenty of sunshine, still breezy and cold. High 29-36.

Friday: Becoming mostly cloudy, breezy, and milder with a chance of showers. High 40-47.

Saturday: More clouds than sunshine, chance for a few showers. High 48-55.

Sunday: Partly to mostly cloudy, chance for some snow or rain showers, especially along the South Coast. High 34-41.