Wednesday March 29 2023 Forecast (7:21AM)

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DAYS 1-5 (MARCH 29 – APRIL 2)

Our restless weather syndrome continues as we move from the final few days of March to the first couple days of April, with a set of changes to go through in fairly rapid succession. We start today calm and chilly with high pressure overhead, and it will be a bright and sunny day with a decent temperature recovery off the chilly dawn lows. All the while a strong cold front will be charging out of the Great Lakes region and adjacent Canadian land, destined to cross our region near or a little after midnight tonight. This front will have a solid band of convective rain and snow along it, and that may be at least somewhat still intact as it crosses our region, most solidly to the north and west and a little more broken up as it heads into southeastern portions of the region. But don’t be surprised (if you’re awake) to see a burst of rain and/or snow, and even the chance of brief thunder, with the passage of this front. The boundary will be long gone and offshore before dawn, and it sets us up for a blustery, chilly, but dry Thursday – opening day at Fenway for the Red Sox, with the high temp of around 42 being 10 degrees cooler than the 52 degree high temp that was recorded at Fenway on January 2, the day the NHL Winter Classic was played by the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins. If you’re going to the game on Thursday and are sitting in the shade and/or windy parts of the stadium, be prepared for wind chills in the 30s. At least we won’t need to worry about any rain (or snow) delays/cancellations. 😉 High pressure builds over the region Thursday night and the wind drops off, and we experience a perfect radiational cooling night when many areas drop to the 20s – urban centers being a little less cold of course. Friday’s weather will start with early sun and maybe a nice sunrise, but clouds advance quickly and completely ahead of a warm front, which may spread some precipitation, mostly rain but possibly starting as sleet, into the region by the end of the day. Additional periods of rain and drizzle are possible Friday night as the warm front passes through the region. The first weekend (and first 2 days) of April present a split with a wet/warm/windy Saturday in the warm sector between the warm front and an approaching cold front, and a dry/chilly/windy Sunday as the cold front will move through early in the day. Further elaboration on the details of the weekend’s weather will take place over the next few posts.

TODAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 47-54. Wind NW 5-15 MPH, shifting to SW.

TONIGHT: Partly cloudy. A passing rain or snow shower possible. Lows 31-38. Wind SW 10-20 MPH shifting to NW, higher gusts possible.

THURSDAY: Sun and passing clouds. Highs 41-48.Wind NW 10-20 MPH and gusty.

THURSDAY NIGHT: Clear. Lows 25-32. Wind NW-N diminishing to under 10 MPH.

FRIDAY: Sun followed by clouds. Late-day rain possible, especially western portions of the region, which may begin as sleet. Highs 43-50. Wind variable up to 10 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Cloudy. Periods of rain and drizzle. Areas of fog. Temperatures steady 43-50. Wind SE shifting to SW 5-15 MPH.

SATURDAY: Cloudy. Rain showers likely. Highs 55-62. Wind SW 10-20 MPH, higher gusts.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy. Rain showers likely. Chance of a thunderstorm. Lows 48-55. Wind SW 10-20 MPH, higher gusts, shifting to NW overnight.

SUNDAY: Sun and passing clouds. Highs 48-55 early, then falling temperatures. Wind NW 15-25 MPH, higher gusts.

DAYS 6-10 (APRIL 3-7)

High pressure brings fair, milder weather to start the period. Episodes of unsettled weather with a frontal boundary nearby and 1 or 2 low pressure systems to traverse the region thereafter, but a turn to dry but windy/cold weather is possible toward the end of the period.

DAYS 11-15 (APRIL 8-12)

Some see-saw weather with a dry and milder trend early in the period then an unsettled cooler trend potentially following that.

31 thoughts on “Wednesday March 29 2023 Forecast (7:21AM)”

  5. Mel King passed away. He was 94. A pioneer. He was the first black politician to reach prominence in Boston. Despite not at all being on board with his politics (my mother was a traditional Republican), my mother admired King and talked about him a lot, especially around the time I did volunteer work as a teenager in the then poor South End of Boston (this was in the late 70s). I worked for an organization that was either founded or inspired Mel King. This boston.com article contains a nice set of pictures of King. https://www.boston.com/news/racial-justice/2023/03/28/mel-king-dies-94-state-representative-first-black-mayoral-candidate-boston/?p1=hp_primary

    1. Very sad. He was indeed a pioneer. I remember my mom mentioning him. She was also a traditional Republican and extremely active in local, state, and national politics.

  7. Good morning and thank you TK.

    Got down to 29 here this morning and as Tom stated, a heavy frost this morning here as well. 🙂

  9. Friday AM will be similar after a radiational cooling setup, but dew point temps may be too low for the frost that morning.

    1. Thanks Jimmy! The heat was long before I was born but the floods I do recall. MA taxpayers were given an extension on filing. I certainly took advantage as it was most welcome at the time.

  14. Tom you been mentioning thunderstorms a few times this week for parts of the northeast.
    Tweet from Ryan Hanrahan
    Strong winds on Saturday may cause some issues. Additionally, there’s a risk for an isolated severe thunderstorm with strong wind shear and a bit of instability

  15. A colleague of mine lives in rural Ontario. He’s experiencing yet another snowstorm today. He’s had many this season, with more to come.

  17. I am trying to get a fix on rain and wind over the next few days in Natick area. How much rain do you see coming and how high do you see the top gusts? Crazy weekend for Red Sox to open at home. Thanks.

    1. Thursday… NW, peak gusts around 25.
      Friday… No significant wind.
      Saturday… SW, peak gusts around 30.
      Sunday… NW, peak gusts around 35.
      Monday… W-SW, peak gusts around 25, mostly early.

      Not much wet weather, confined mostly to late Friday/Saturday (as written above, no changes at this point).

  18. SClarke, thanks for sharing the photos. Mud season has commenced in NH and NNE. Well, not completely. But it will soon.

  19. Impressive band of heavy snow squalls moving through upstate NY and VT right now. Surprised not to see more snow squall warnings issued. Will be interesting to see how far southeast this band holds together.

    1. Love snow squalls. The word alone – squalls – is cool. Its etymology is likely Norwegian: Skval.

      Too bad the squalls won’t reach the coast.

      I’ll tell you this, any snow we get next year, and I do think we’ll revert to a more normal winter, will be so appreciated. I appreciate every day in life, in every season, but I will be so thrilled just to have a run-of-the-mill snowstorm in Boston on, say, December 16th.

      1. They may reach the coast.

        It’s funny that the perception seems to be that something was “wrong” with this winter. There wasn’t anything wrong with it. It was a 3rd year La Nina with a persistent stable pattern. That’s why SNE was low snow. NNE was above normal.

        We get our averages from our extremes. One of the least common kinds of weather is weather that statistically matches the “normals”. This is why I DESPISE when somebody in media uses the phrase “We’re supposed to be XX degrees today.” No, that’s completely wrong. We’re not SUPPOSED to be the average for the date. We’re are whatever the current pattern dictates. I wish they’d stop using that misleading phrase.

  20. For the life of me I don’t understand why northern teams play baseball the 1st week-10 days at home. Just open on the road and spare us the misery. Sox tickets are nearly out of range for many and you can be sure nobody wants to sit in 42 degrees and wind chills in 20’s.

    1. As long as they sell the tickets, they’ll do it. And they keep selling the tickets. 🙂

      It is silly, I agree, but….
      People do go to NFL late-season & playoff games in far more harsh conditions. 🙂

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