DAYS 1-5 (AUGUST 19-23)
After yet another active weather day yesterday which included high humidity, showers and thunderstorms, and a handful of tornadoes in southern New England, it’s time to take a deep breath and a break, and mother nature will provide that opportunity this weekend, and into next week, with much less action to talk about and track. We do have an upper level low pressure area situation just to our north that will have an impact on the weather today, however, but not in a major way. It’s part of a pattern that’s delivering a cooler, much drier air mass – a hint of early autumn especially if you were up early. Around the upper low are lots of high and mid level clouds, some of those trying to wheel into our region this morning, but also fighting dry air which limits the extent to which they can cover the sky. But the solar heating, combined with the cold pool of air aloft, will ignite diurnal cumulus / stratocumulus cloud development later this morning into this afternoon which can become quite extensive, limiting the sun that helped them develop. This, along with a cool breeze and low dew points, will make today feel unlike many of the muggy days we’ve experienced this summer – finally a chance to dry out! Sunday’s weather will be quite nice, still with low dew points for comfort, but warmer by 5 to 10 degrees over today’s high temps, with much more abundant sun as the upper low moves away and a weak high pressure ridge follows it. High pressure slips offshore Monday and a cold front approaches from southeastern Canada. This will be our one very warm and slightly humid day of the 5-day period. While high temps jump well into the 80s the dew point climbs back into the 60s, so you’ll feel that bit of mugginess back. The cold front will cross the area from northwest to southeast during the evening and may trigger a shower or possibly a thunderstorm, but this is not looking like a widespread heavy rainfall event – just a quick hit for a few areas, then gone. A mild, dry air mass overspreads the region after that with the return of fair weather Tuesday and Wednesday.
TODAY: Sunniest eastern MA, RI, and eastern CT with clouds moving in at times elsewhere through mid morning, then lots of clouds popping up late morning into afternoon with limited sun, especially away from the coast. Highs 71-78. Dew point falling to near 50. Wind W 5-15 MPH, higher gusts.
TONIGHT: Clearing. Lows 50-57 except 58-65 urban centers. Dew point near 50. Wind W 5-15 MPH.
SUNDAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 78-85. Dew point near 50. Wind W 5-15 MPH.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Clear. Patchy ground fog. Lows 57-64. Dew point rising through 50s. Wind WSW up to 10 MPH.
MONDAY: Sunny to partly cloudy. Highs 80-87. Dew point rising into 60s. Wind SW 5-15 MPH.
MONDAY NIGHT: Variably cloudy with a chance of a shower or thunderstorm in the evening. Clearing overnight. Lows 57-64. Dew point falling to 50s. Wind SW 5-15 MPH shifting to NW.
TUESDAY: Sun and passing clouds. Highs 72-79. Dew point 50s. Wind NW 5-15 MPH.
TUESDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear. Fog patches forming in lower elevations. Lows 52-59. Dew point lower 50s. Wind N under 10 MPH.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 74-81. Dew point 50s. Wind W up to 10 MPH.
DAYS 6-10 (AUGUST 24-28)
Northwesterly air flow between high pressure to the west and low pressure in eastern Canada should be the prevalent pattern during this period. Later August 24 into August 25 is the most likely unsettled period based on the timing of the next disturbance moving through the region.
DAYS 11-15 (AUGUST 29 – SEPTEMBER 2)
Overall similar pattern expected, maybe one or two fairly brief episodes of unsettled weather in an overall drier pattern with near to below normal temperatures.