Going Gray

150 Comments

12:47PM

Here it is folks! The gray side of Spring. The part that many people forget about when they are wondering where Spring is during or after a harsh winter.  It’s the part of Spring in which cold upper lows, cold ocean flows, or a combo of both, keep us on the cooler side of average and with a lack of sunshine. This will be the case for much of the foreseeable future. Today, low pressure to the northwest of the region is redeveloping just offshore and has sent some rain into the region. This will taper somewhat during the day as energy shifts further offshore, but the cold upper low parenting this system still have to come through, and will do so tonight into Sunday. Another batch of precipitation tonight will start out as rain showers, but with good instability, there are 2 things that cannot be ruled out. The first is thunder. Some of the heavier showers may be accompanied by lightning and thunder. Second is frozen precipitation, sleet and/or snow, which may mix in especially in higher elevations of interior MA and southern NH if intensity is enough to drag cold air down from above. Some areas could even flip completely to sleet/snow for a while, enough to cover some surfaces briefly. This is not a 100% certainty and will not occur everywhere. In any case, the upper low will still be overhead Sunday and even though the risk of precipitation will diminish in the morning and only be limited to a few showers midday and afternoon, clouds will likely hang tough, along with an increasing wind and continued very cool air.

A break, of sorts, may try to occur Monday, but I am having my doubts this will be much of a break, because cloudiness from the slowly-departing low to the east may try to hang on especially in coastal  MA and NH. At the same time another expansive low pressure area will be approaching the eastern US from the Midwest, and this system will probably take its time both getting into the region as well as departing. But what won’t be taking its time will be lots of cloudiness that will result from both onshore flow at lower levels and advancing moisture at higher levels from the southwest. So while rain from that system may wait a while to get here (late Wednesday or even later), cloudiness is going to be the rule for many of the coming days.

Forecast for southeastern New England…

THIS AFTERNOON: Steadiest rain east coastal NH/MA through Cape Cod diminishing gradually with only patchy light rain and drizzle elsewhere along with patchy light fog under a cloudy sky, but clouds may try to break especially southwest and west of Boston late in the day. Highs in the 40s. Wind E to N 5-15 MPH.

TONIGHT: Cloudy with episodes of rain showers, some possibly heavy, including the risk of thunderstorms, and a mix of sleet/snow in higher elevations interior MA and southern NH. Brief accumulations of sleet/snow may occur but this will be more the exception than the rule. Lows in the 30s. Wind N 5-15 MPH.

SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain showers eastern coastal areas early to mid morning. Only isolated light rain showers possible elsewhere early and all areas for the remainder of the day. Highs upper 40s to lower 50s. Wind N increasing to 15-25 MPH.

MONDAY: Mostly cloudy eastern areas, partly sunny western areas. Low 40. High 55.

TUESDAY: Cloudy. Low 40. High 45 shore to 55 inland.

WEDNESDAY: Cloudy. Chance of rain late. Low 40. high 45 shore to 55 inland.

THURSDAY: Cloudy. Periods of rain. Low 45. High 52.

FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain showers. Low 46. High 54.

150 thoughts on “Going Gray”

  2. The big baseball parade is tomorrow at 10am and I’m wondering if that might be in jeopardy as players to arrive at. 9:30am.

  6. Hoping we get a little break in this pattern by next weekend. It’s May Fair in Harvard square. One of my favorite events of the year!

  8. “C” for the trivia question.

    Also, tomorrow and/or Monday (27/28, 1987) will be the anniversary of the late April snow that produced 4″ for Boston, 8+” for Framingham and nearly 20″ for Worcester.
    IIRC the side streets/roads were void of any snow in spite of the relatively high totals.

    1. 10.5 inches in Woburn from the April 28-29 1987 storm. They did plow, but the snow melted so fast on the afternoon of the 29th and was basically gone by the end of the day on the 30th.

      1. Thanks TK for correcting me on those dates. For some reason I always have trouble remembering it. Dynamic cooling works wonders in the spring. 🙂

        1. Hah! What’s funny is I didn’t notice at first that you had the wrong dates. 😉

      2. My brothers bday is April 29 so that’s one date I don’t forget. We had a foot. My cousins bday was may 9…. Another date I remember.

      1. Why do you think it will . What’s the projected tempature at that time frame. Watching the game oldsalty.

        1. Cold aloft with surface temps in the 30s, probably
          35 – 37 or so AND precip intensity hard enough.

          Result => SNOW for a time anyway. Enough to whiten ground in places? YES. We shall see. 😆 😈 👿 😆

  13. Going by my phone it’s. 45 in boston with showers. Tempature is also at 45 here but no rain. It was coming down earlier this morning.

  14. Answer to Today’s AccuWeather Trivia Quiz.

    In April, 1997 how much snow fell in Boston?
    A. 10″
    B. 14″
    C. 22″
    D. 30″

    The correct answer is C, 22″ (while I was living in California :)).

    1. Oh there you are! I just mentioned you below. How are you hanging in there with this game? 🙂

  16. If Longshot is watching this Bruins game, I hope he has someone with a defibrillator on stand-by. 😉

  17. 43.9 with a light wind. I have been on the deck for an hour or so and refuse to spend last night not enjoying the sound of the ocean. It is much darker to the north over Boston than to the south. Cape looks to possibly have some breaks in clouds. I looked at extended forecast. Seems we had a perfect month here……as always thanks to our south shore hosts. My one regret is that we could not meet and greet. Lots of family things just made it difficult to plan 🙁

  18. We’re “in-between” the departing secondary surface low and the approaching combination of dying parent low and upper level low.

    I thing it would be a real stretch to get any snow down to the coastal plain overnight. Higher elevations stand the best chance and that is assuming strong enough precipitation is over the region. For it to happen closer to the coast, you’d need pretty heavy precipitation to time itself just perfectly.

    2. I hear you. Always the way. NOT impressed with area of precipitation, so
      chances are not great. 😀

        1. It cant start until all first round series in both conferences end, according to Dale Arnold on NESN post game show. With Pittsburgh-Columbus at 2-2, its probably Wednesday .. at the earliest, maybe even later than that.

          1. I was saying that in work yesterday Tom as I thought all of round one had to be played out. Good for the bruins to get a short well deserved break but not so good for Montreal as they will will be resting longer and believe it or not can be a bad thing.

      2. I’ve been to Montreal a number of different times, they r hockey central wow, never seen anything like it, hockey is Canadians culture for sure. Go bruins

        Just got back from Patriot place, had lunch and bought some shirts, dreary type day, good day 45.4 degrees 🙂

        1. Canada lives and breathes hockey Charlie . Some of the best players in the NHL have come from canada.

  20. Nice title TK, however ……. when the weather presents an opportunity later in time, we’ll need a title for us old timers, 🙂 , that um ………….. doesn’t make us think so much about our age. LOL !!!

  21. http://weather.gc.ca/data/satellite/hrpt_ykn_nir_100.jpg

    Here is a huge ice lead that developed a few days ago. For reference, dot in middle left of photo is Fairbanks, AK.

    These cracks in the ice are very normal and even in late April, they should be refreezing. However, this one hasn’t been because in this area, its been well above normal temperature wise, in the low-mid 30s.

    If this doesnt refreeze, it would be really interesting to watch the impact on the summer melt. This open water is taking in the 35 degree sun angle, which slowly warms the ocean water, creates ice melt, etc. Normally, this area of the arctic ocean begins to melt closer to Memorial Day Weekend, a month from now.

  23. TK, I will be starting my shed project this week after work. The shed is 16’x10′ and will require (8) 10″ sona tubes down 48″. My plan is to dig these holes Tue/Wed evening, inspection during the day on Thursday, then pouring concrete Thursday evening. My question for you is how frustrated will I be by Friday night? 🙂 Which evenings appear to be wet? Thanks in advance.

    1. I have an 8×12 pool shed about to go up as well. It sucks digging those holes was easier before Bigfoot.

          1. I believe that’s for certain structures like large porches or additions. I’ve built 4 decks in the last 4 years and never needed them.

    2. Wednesday and/or Thursday evening will likely be the wettest. It will come down to timing of arrival of the precipitation from the main low. That looks to be held back initially. Exactly how long is a bit of a question, but a slightly earlier arrival would mean Wednesday night is the wettest, while a slightly later arrival would hold the rain off a little longer, making Thursday the wetter of the two. A couple more days and that timing will get a little more clear.

      1. Tk is that rain that was coming tonight still on. If so how’s it look down here around 10am tomorrow. Thanks.

  24. TK, I made it! I’ll never make it through the rest of the series.

    I swear the Montreal weather forecast looks as warm if not warmer than Boston for the coming week.

  25. I hate to the bearer of bad news but I think pattern we are in holds through all of May. If we are lucky pattern will break by early to mid June. Again this doesn’t mean we will not have warm days, they will be sprinkled in, unless you are in Charlie’s area 🙂 where it will sunny and warm all the time. Such a cold ocean will be a player for a while.

    I hate to bring this up but I haven’t heard much from others so thought I would chime in.

    1. I figure if I was happy sitting on the ocean with a Eastern wind, I’ll think anything in framingham is downright balmy

            1. Neat. Thats interesting because on radar, there’s rain maybe an hour or so away. Just like summer, clear skies to showers in a matter of minutes.

    2. lol I can see the joking, but when it’s sunny and 50 degrees out at 10am I consider that beautiful, and yes while Boston been mostly socked in with cool temps this areas been much warmer, I bet you for Monday you might be in the low 50’s while well southwest and inland locales see closer to if not 60 degrees, we shall see, good day hadi 🙂

    3. You may be correct Hadi.

      I’ll take 10-14 days and then, hopefully around May 10 to 15th, a transition to something better.

  26. Average temps for your area Charlie are about the same as Boston. I am not saying it’s gonna be crappy all the time, but your weather won’t be that great either except for a few days here and there. Also haven’t you learned that I love great weather more than any other type. If you paid attention you would know that I have no interest in being accurate with my forecast but I am betting it happens that way.

    1. No they are not hadi, Boston is schewed cooler, average highs for north attleboro for this time of yr is low to mid 60’s, 2 maybe 3 days just in the past week os had readings 15-18 degrees cooler bc of living relatively close to the ocean. I don’t know hadi goodnight 🙂

  27. As far as the large scale pattern: We will be blocking dominated, to the unsettled side at least until May 10 followed by a transition to drier but sea breezy. The below normal ocean temps will have an impact.

  29. BTW Charlie our area vs boston is only about 2 degrees differences in averages. Soaune some days are different but overall climate is the pretty much the same.

  30. Today’s AccuWeather Trivia Quiz.

    In 1988, how much snowfall had Mount Washington received for the month of April?
    A. 50”
    B. 70”
    C. 90”
    D. 110”

    Answer later today.

  31. Good morning. Charlie, wundergroud is relatively accurate in framingham. There is a new station directly on the beach where we are. Its temps have matched our car temps. The biggest surprise I’ve had thus month is that with only a couple of exceptions the air temp is exactly the same on the coast as in framingham. Often it was higher by a degree or two on the coast. When we had a breeze off the ocean, the wind chill is what was lower…..

  32. Charlie take a look at the nws archived data and you will see that out averages ste only a few degrees I think 2-3 different.

  33. John… I replied to your question above about the overnight rain still being expected (mix in higher elevations which there was, nothing near Boston), as well as occasional showers around today, but for some reason it did not post. I sent it mobile so that may have been the issue. Sorry about that.

  35. Charlie and Hadi (I’m going to sound a little like Switzerland here, because I think you both are correct).

    To Hadi’s point, Logan’s avg high on 4/27 is 60.1F and Providence, RI is 62.1F. So, its correct that there’s only a 2F difference and this narrow difference is seen throughout much of the year.

    To Charlie’s point, I do think there’s a difference. Logan might hit that 60F at noon and acheive the high, but at 3-4 pm most spring days, it will have fallen back to 47F–50F, while at Providence or interior SE New England, at 3-4pm, the temps will be maintaining near that 60F mark.

    1. Every time during my travels when I travel closer to the coast I can feel it cooling down, I can usually tell if I’m within 10 miles from the coast.

      1. True Charlie.

        I do wonder though is we are trying to compare apples and oranges.

        Climate differences or similiarities over long periods and daily variances are tough to compare, I think.

        I mean, if Miami has a high of 85F and a low of 65F and, say …… Flagstaff, AZ has a high of 94F and 56F, well … Climatologically, they have the same long term daily avg, yet on a small scale time, they acheived the 75F much, much differently.

  36. I understand hadi that it’s only 3 degree difference but on a day to day comparison my area can be much warmer than u this time of yr, especially if you get a seabreeze which is often during April. Like I said the past week was a perfect example

    1. I agree that your area is warmer…..by a couple of degrees as Hadi said. I agree you can feel the temp cooler at the coast IF there is a sea breeze. You also know that actual temp and “feeling” are not the same…..correct?

      For this month only…..and I actually mean this month……we have been warmer by a degree or toe fairly consistently day and night at the coast than in framingham. My Wunder default is framingham and I have been more than surprised to notice this. You tend a couple of degrees warmer than Framingham on avg so the coast…again only for April 2014……has been very close to you.

  37. Cloudy and gray here, I thought it would have been a little cooler this morning, but it’s not to bad, temps already 46.7 degrees here, have a good Sunday everyone 🙂

    2. You would think a country with no conflict and no difinitive views on anything would have a stronger economy.

  39. 44.1 here, damp and cloudy. In other words another PUTRID Spring day in Boston.

    I HATE this weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  41. My company golf league starts this tuesday, 2 weeks later than usual to try and avoid these types of days and early season cancellations. Well, looks like it wont be avoided, tuesday looking cloudy and damp with temps in the high 40s, gross!

      1. Its miserable even playing golf in long sleeves for me. Light jacket is even worse but will be needed tuesday. We play at Brookmeadow in Canton

        1. I’ve played that course many times. A bit too Narrow
          for me on many fairways. Several holes require a “SHAPED” SHOT.

          I CANNOT play with a jacket on. A light sweater is
          the best I can manage. If it’s too cold out, I play with
          a light sweater and take off a coat for shots only and then put it back on. Played at 10 Degrees once on that
          course. 😀

  43. Today just the start of a multi day severe weather outbreak across the south.
    Just reading the discussion from the SPC conditions appear favorable unfortunatley for strong long tracked tornadoes.
    The weather up here may not be great this coming week but at least its just rain and were not dealing with a tornado threat.

    1. Very true. We are very lucky in this area that tornadoes are rare and we dont have to deal with them every spring

      1. You are both so very correct. I am positive I could not live in an area prone to tornadoes…or earthquakes for that matter.

    2. Very true, just remember just bc your in tornado zones residents have lived there 65 yrs old and never seen a tornado, I guess my point is tornado are very local and many times you don’t get anything even though you go into a watch, it’s kinda like someone hearing the northeast got 3 ft of snow, but when u have someone call you from down south to see if everything’s ok, you have to explain most of the time that most of the snow fell north of us, sorry for the bad explanation. 🙂

  44. TK – What are you early thoughts on next weekend? We have a booth at Mayfair in Havard Sq. on Sunday. If it’s nice, it could be a good moneymaker for us! Crossing my fingers!

    1. Initial thoughts are based on the fact we’ll likely have a broad upper trough still transitioning through the Northeast. Luckily it looks like it will be fairly low amplitude and centered to our north at that point which means westerly flow both surface and aloft. It’s unsettled but not wash-out kind of weather. If we can keep away southerly flow aloft and easterly flow at the surface, we’ll avoid the worst of what Spring can bring.

      Let’s venture a first call: Clouds dominate over sun. Low to moderate risk of passing showers. Gusty breeze. Temps on the cooler side of normal.

  45. 43 here in pembroke and it was downright cold down at the baseball parade . I’m sorry but this weather is just horrible .

      2. I’d rather see it at the beach :(. But I’m glad it waited for us to return so we can enjoy watching everything come alive

            1. Or Scott’s but as Charlie said treat it like tomorrow or you’ll be in trouble. Then treat it again in mid summer.

                1. Yes. It’s a must and don’t wait. They will eat your entire lawn to shreds. Once you treat you should be good. If it is grubs I would be proactive and treat with grub ex yearly as pm program. If your not sure what a grub looks like just google it. Good luck .

                2. We have had grubs before. We didn’t treat last year because of the baby grass. And the kids are always in the lawn and I detest chemicals. Creepy little critters. Thanks John

  49. Answer to Today’s AccuWeather Trivia Quiz.

    In 1988, how much snowfall had Mount Washington received for the month of April?
    A. 50”
    B. 70”
    C. 90”
    D. 110”

    The correct answer is C, 90.”

        1. Yes there both right there. Venus was evacuated. The pipe bomb went off while they were investigating it as it was sensitive. It was ruled a pipe bomb and now a criminal investigation. Probably some knuckle head kids.

  53. Getting all trees sprayed tommorrow to fight those terrible green worms that like to kill the trees, looking like a nice day with temps around 60 degrees 🙂

  54. First tornado deaths reported in NC with an 11 month old and now two dead in Arkansas. I agree with Vicki I would never live in a tornado prone area.

  57. First tornado fatalities of the year unfortunatley. Friday was the first EF 3 tornado reported in North Carlonia.
    Long tracked tornado north of Little Rock Arkansas.

    1. I’ve been watching the warning box in AK expand to the northeast. I can’t even imagine being in a tornado area at any time but during the dark would terrify me

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