That’s what you’ll need if you’re headed outside today (maybe your bathing suit too so you can take a dip in water to cool off)! The summer heat we’ve been talking about for days is surging into New England; temperatures are going to soar into the upper 80s to lower 90s this afternoon. Dewpoints won’t be too bad though – so that “stickiness” factor will be kept to a minimum.

Tomorrow, high pressure positioned to the south of the region will slide offshore, bringing a south-southwest wind into New England. In turn, the heat just keeps on coming. Highs will once again flirt with 90 under a blend of sun and clouds. Relief from the heat will be found on the Cape, Islands and south coast, with highs around 80. If you’re headed out on the water, the wind will gust to 25 mph, and waves will be running around 2′-4′.

Saturday evening, clouds will increase in the North Country, and isolated thunderstorms will be possible out ahead of a cold front coming from the Great Lakes. We’ll have to dodge a few showers on Sunday morning as this front slides eastward. Behind this boundary, a secondary cold front will approach New England, bubbling up clouds and scattered showers/storms during the afternoon and evening.

So, even though Father’s Day may not be completely dry – it will not be a washout by any means, so don’t cancel your outdoor plans! Just keep a watchful eye to the northwest sky.

Looking ahead to next week – a typical summer time pattern will persist with highs in the middle 80s and a chance of afternoon thunder as fast moving disturbances push through.

Have a safe and wonderful weekend everybody. And Happy Father’s Day to all you Dad’s out there…including my own!

-Danielle

Well, I’m pretty sure we can’t top yesterday’s beautiful weather – but today won’t be all that bad. Morning sunshine has been filtered through high, thin cirrus clouds and those clouds will thicken as we head through the afternoon. Showers and thunderstorms to our west will slowly press towards New England, encountering dry air and high pressure sliding southeast of the six state region. In turn, the most of us will be rain-free through the day today – with the exception of a few renegade showers that could pop up from time to time.

More scattered shower activity will move in from west to east during the evening with steadier downpours and embedded storms holding off until the overnight hours. So, there’s your warning! Don’t be surprised if you wake up to thunder around 2 or 3 AM – especially in central and southern New England.

Tomorrow, the front responsible for this wet weather will be offshore, but we’ll still be left with some spotty showers and lots of clouds. A piece of upper level energy will rotate through during the afternoon – bubbling up clouds and a few more showers, particularly in northern New England. Highs will be in the 70s for much of the region. Overnight Thursday, skies clear and then BOOM – the heat is on! Temps will rise into the middle to upper 80s on Friday (a few of the warmest spots may even touch 90); undoubtedly very warm, but not muggy…yet.

The humidity will increase through the weekend though as the mercury rises into the lower 90s on Saturday with isolated thunderstorms confined to northern New England. Summer heat lasts through Father’s Day with highs around 90 and a chance for thunder during the afternoon/evening as a cold front moves through.

Behind that boundary, we’ll turn slightly cooler and more comfortable on Monday (the first official day of summer) with highs in the middle 80s under mostly sunny skies!

Have a great Wednesday everybody!
-Danielle

I think I saw the sunshine for about an hour on Saturday morning before the clouds rolled in and took residence over much of New England this past weekend. The summer heat stayed to our south as a warm front turned stationary and a wave of low pressure passed to the south of the region. This brought showers and a cool wind off the water for many of us. What a bummer! Ahhh…moving on now – it’s a brand new week and I have to admit, the 7 day forecast is looking pretty good!

Patchy fog out there this morning will slowly lift to a low layer of clouds and eventually give way to some breaks of sunshine. I don’t want to get too optimistic here though…more clouds than sun will definitely rule the sky today. We’ll also have to track some showers too, which will develop first in northern New England around midday and push south during the afternoon and evening. An isolated rumble of thunder is not out of the question either.

Overnight, skies will clear, paving the way for a beautiful Tuesday. High pressure will build into New England providing us with sunshine from start to finish and temps in the 70s! That fair weather cell will shift eastward on Wednesday allowing clouds to increase through the day. Showers out ahead of the next system will stay to our west until the evening, eventually filling in during the overnight hours. A few of these showers will linger into Thursday morning, before sunshine breaks out from west to east.

Then…it’s time for a warm up! The heat that has been bottled to our south will build into New England this weekend; highs will come into the middle 80s on Friday and could eclipse 90 on both Saturday and Sunday. Seems like an appropriate way to usher in the official start of summer which is just a week away!

Have a great Monday everyone!
Danielle

Yesterday’s cool, unsettled weather culminated during the afternoon and evening with severe storms in southern New England. Two of these storms exhibited strong rotation, prompting the National Weather Service to issue two separate tornado warnings; one in Southern Litchfield County, CT around 3 PM (a funnel cloud was spotted on the village green in Litchfield around 3:20 PM), and the second in Southern Windham County at 7 PM. Wind damage and small hail was also reported in Worcester County, MA. To see yesterday’s storm reports, click here.

Today, the weather is quiet. Clouds and fog this morning will gradually break up, giving way to increasing sunshine this afternoon and especially this evening. Highs will be in the 70s across in the interior today and in the upper 60s along the coast with a wind blowing off the water. Still running a bit below the average for this time of year, but we’ll take it! Summer time heat has been building to our south though…and the question is, does this warmth ever make it into New England?

The answer is no. Don’t get me wrong, it will be warmer than the past few days – but the real deep heat will stay to our south and west for the time being. Cooler air (relatively speaking) will be in place in across eastern Canada and this clash of temperature will put New England right in the middle. In turn, a bit of unsettled weather is in the cards for both Saturday and Sunday.

So let’s talk about the details. Other than a few showers in the North Country Saturday morning, much of the region will be dry and sunny. Clouds will increase throughout the day, and the threat for scattered showers and thunderstorms (some of which could be strong) will come into play during the afternoon and evening. There’s an even better chance for some storms overnight on Saturday as a warm front tries to press into New England. Out ahead of the front, we’ll contend with clouds, some sun and more widespread shower activity (perhaps a few thunderstorms) on Sunday. Highs will generally run in the 70s both days, and the humidity will creep up through the weekend.

Now I know I’ve said it a million times (ok maybe not a million)..but it never hurts to remind you to keep a watchful eye to the sky and when those clouds get dark and thunder roars – go indoors!

Have a great weekend everybody. See you on Monday!
-Danielle

57 years ago today, New England experienced its most severe tornado in the six state regions history. We refer to it as the Great Worcester Tornado, and it claimed over 90 lives as it ripped through Worcester County. The tornado itself was 1 mile wide, traveled 46 miles on the ground for 84 minutes, and caused $52 million in damage (in 1953)! Just to put this in perspective, the tornado from this past weekend in Craftsbury, VT was 250 feet wide and traveled 2.5 miles on the ground. Debris from the Worcester tornado was found over 50 miles away, around Boston and all the way down to Cape Cod. Needless to say, the Worcester tornado was a beast with wind speeds in excess of 250 mph classifying it as a devastating F4-F5 tornado (the current scale for tornado strength has changed to the enhanced fujita scale ). Today, our thoughts go out to the survivors of this deadly tornado, along with the family and friends of those affected by it. For more information on the Worcester Tornado as well as the two other tornadoes that touched down that day in New England, click here.

Switching gears now – let’s talk about the forecast for the next few days. Sunshine will fade behind increasing clouds today as showers spread into western New England by the late afternoon spreading east by the evening. While the leading edge of the rainfall will have a tough time making it down to the ground due to a lot of dry air at the surface, light showers are likely by the time we get to around 8 PM in Boston.

The heaviest rain will fall during the overnight hours, particularly along the south coast where the wind will gust to 35 mph as an intensifying area of low pressure passes just to the south of New England. Rainfall totals will generally range between a half an inch to an inch in most areas.

We’ll be cloudy, cool and damp on Thursday with occasional showers…yuck! Highs will struggle to break 60 in many spots. The exception will be northern Maine, where strong June sunshine will aid in boosting temps into the 70s.

Sunshine will return for all of us on Friday though with noticeably warmer temps. The weekend will feature increasing humidity and highs around 80. We’ll have a risk of thunderstorms both days, but Sunday looks like the better chance at this point. It’s hard to nail down the timing and placement of these storms right now, but we’ll keep a close eye on it and nail down the details in the days to come.

Have a great Wednesday everybody!
Danielle

After surveying the damage from this past weekends severe weather, two tornadoes have now been confirmed by the National Weather Service; one was near Craftsbury, VT in Orleans County on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 PM and the other in Oxford County Maine in South Paris at 5:20 PM. Both were classified as EF1 tornadoes, meaning their wind speeds were between 86 and 111 mph. Continue reading for more details from the National Weather Service…

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT…RESENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
1111 AM EDT MON JUN 7 2010

…TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR CRAFTSBURY IN ORLEANS COUNTY VERMONT…

LOCATION…CRAFTSBURY IN ORLEANS COUNTY VERMONT
DATE…6/5/2010
ESTIMATED TIME…230 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING…EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED…80 TO 90 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH…250 FT
PATH LENGTH…2.5 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON…44.62N / 72.42W
ENDING LAT/LON…44.61N / 72.38W
* FATALITIES…0
* INJURIES…0

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.

…SUMMARY…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BURLINGTON VT HAS CONFIRMED AN EF1
TORNADO NEAR CRAFTSBURY IN ORLEANS COUNTY VERMONT ON 6/5/2010.

AT APPROXIMATELY 230 PM A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN RURAL
CRAFTSBURY VERMONT NEAR WEST HILL ROAD. SEVERAL HARD AND SOFTWOOD
TREES WERE UPROOTED WITH SOME LARGE TRUNKS SNAPPED. DAMAGE WAS IN
AN ERRATIC MANNER INDICATIVE OF TORNADIC ACTIVITY. THE TORNADO
TRAVELED EAST-SOUTHEAST FOR APPROXIMATELY 2.5 MILES IN TOTAL. THE
DAMAGE PATH WAS BROKEN WHERE THE TORNADO LIKELY LIFTED AS IT
CRESTED WEST HILL. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AGAIN IN MULTIPLE
LOCATIONS ON THE LEE SIDE OF WEST HILL BEFORE DISSIPATING.

THIS INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/BTV.

FOR REFERENCE…THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0…WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH.
EF1…WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH.
EF2…WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH.
EF3…WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH.
EF4…WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH.
EF5…WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
1124 AM EDT MON JUN 07 2010

..TIME… …EVENT… …CITY LOCATION… …LAT.LON…
..DATE… ….MAG…. ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. …SOURCE….
..REMARKS..

0520 PM TORNADO SOUTH PARIS 44.22N 70.51W
06/05/2010 OXFORD ME NWS STORM SURVEY

NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM FOUND DAMAGE TO NUMEROUS TREES AND
STRUCTURES FROM SOUTH PARIS TO OXFORD IN SOUTHERN OXFORD
COUNTY. THIS CONFIRMS AN EF1 TORNADO WITH A PRELIMINARY
TRACK WIDTH OF 300 YARDS. TRACK LENGTH WILL BE DETERMINED
LATER AS STORM SURVEY IS STILL IN PROGRESS.

Wow – what a weekend! I woke up on Saturday morning around 3:20 AM to loud thunder and had to get up to check out the radar (and watch the lightning show for a bit too!). Thankfully, we dried out just in time for my morning bike ride…but I knew we wouldn’t stay dry through the day. All six states reported some sort of severe weather on Saturday – from damaging wind to large hail and even a tornado in Craftsbury, VT. There was no reprieve on Sunday either. I wish I had my camera on me to document the powerful downburst that came right through my neighborhood in Belmont yesterday afternoon. There was torrential rain, damaging wind and frequent lightning. It was amazing to watch. Thankfully, my street was spared from any major damage – but just a few blocks over, HUGE oak and maple trees were uprooted, bringing down power lines and knocking out power to residents. To see the storm reports from the past several days, click here.

I’m sure many of us have similar stories from this weekends wild weather. The good news is that there is no threat for severe weather today – or through the remainder of the week either. Today will feature sunshine and building clouds this afternoon. Some of these clouds may produce a brief passing shower or sprinkle but that’s about it. Temps will run in the upper 60s in the North Country and 70s central and south.

There will be a few more clouds tomorrow, and in turn, slightly cooler temps. Either side of 70° is a good bet, and again, a slight chance of a shower is in the forecast, particularly for northern New England. Wednesday brings plenty of sunshine, before high thin clouds increase out ahead of the next system coming out of the Ohio Valley.

This storm will pass to the south of New England, bringing a period of rain for some of us on Wednesday night and the first half of Thursday along with gusty winds at the coast. We’ll keep an eye on it and narrow down the details in the coming days to come. Dry weather will return on Friday and warmer, muggy air will move in for the weekend along with the chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Enjoy your Monday!
Danielle

Dense fog reducing visibility to as little as a quarter of a mile at times will slowly burn off this morning as increasing sunshine breaks out across New England. And while there is a risk of an isolated pop up shower or thunderstorm this afternoon and evening, overall, it will be a mostly dry day. Temps will rise into the 80s inland, and 70s along the coast thanks to a sea breeze that will kick in around midday. The cold front that brought severe storms to parts of the region yesterday is now offshore, stalling to the south of New England. It will return northward as a warm front during the overnight tonight, bringing increased humidity, scattered showers and embedded thunder. Fog will also redevelop along the south coast, Cape & Islands. Many of us will be dry from mid morning through lunch time tomorrow before another round of downpours and thunder moves through during the afternoon and evening. Storms that develop on Saturday have the potential to becoming strong to severe – so keep a watchful eye to the sky – especially if you have outdoor plans.

Highs will range from the 80s in southern New England to the 70s in the North Country and 60s in northern Maine. Sunday will be cooler for everybody as a wave of low pressure passes to our south, bringing in a wind off the water. It’ll be another unsettled day – driest in the morning, turning wet by the afternoon from west to east. Expect periodic showers and downpours, especially in southern and western New England. Storm activity will be limited, but southern New England could still see the chance for embedded thunder.

We dry out again on Monday as Canadian high pressure builds into the northeast. Temps will run in the 70s, on average, through next week with mostly dry weather until Thursday.

Enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend everyone!
Danielle

It’s a beautiful start to this Memorial Day for some of us – great for most outdoor activites you may have planned. That being said, parts of New England are dealing with a smoky haze in the sky today courtesy of wildfires burning in Quebec that have already charred over 200 acres of land. The latest report as of Sunday afternoon from Quebec’s Forest Fire Protection Agency confirmed there are 52 ongoing forest fires.

While the haze was primarily contained to the North Country at first, a wind shift has been carrying the smoke all the way to southern New England. So if you’re headed to the mountains or beaches today, you will notice the thin, high film of clouds and reduced visibility (the smell of smoke too) and now you know why. In turn, the smoke is creating poor air quality in some areas, and people with certain health conditions may be affected by the particles in the air. Air quality alerts have been issued for parts of the region. For the latest alerts and advisories, click here.

As the wind shifts around to blow from the south late today, the smoke will slowly be pushed away from New England during the evening. Showers will develop overnight tonight, providing some assistance to firefighters across Quebec battling the flames.

This wet weather will impact New England too, as widespread showers and thunderstorms push from west to east across the region tomorrow. Keep the umbrella handy, keep an eye to the sky and remember, when thunder roars, go indoors.

I’m off the next few days – so have a great week, and I’ll see you again on Friday!
-Danielle

For those of you who got an early jump on the holiday weekend…nice job! It’s pretty much a picture perfect day across the region with bright sunshine, pleasant temps and light winds. Highs will be similar to yesterday, rising into the 70s inland and 60s along the coast. But don’t worry- if you weren’t lucky enough to get today off, our stretch of unseasonably warm weather will continue right through the weekend. The tougher question – will we stay dry? Let’s run down the details…

Saturday: Blend of sun and clouds. Chance of a shower or thunderstorm scattered about…keep an eye to the sky. Highs in the 70s except 60s along the south coast. Beach & Boating: Southwest wind 10-20 knots. Seas 2-4 feet. High UV Index.

Sunday: Partly sunny, breezy and warm. Highs will range from the upper 60s in northern Maine to near 90 in Connecticut. The rest of us will run mainly in the 70s and 80s; the Lakes and mountains reach the upper 70s to near 80 while the Cape and Islands find highs in the mid 70s. There’s just a slight chance of a shower or t-storm in the north although the air will be too dry to support widespread activity. Beach & Boating: Southwest wind becoming northwest late in the day at 10-20 knots, gusting to 25 knots. Seas between 2-4 feet. High UV Index.

Memorial Day: Another beauty! Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s well inland, upper 60s near the coast. Beach & Boating: Northeast wind between 5-10 knots becoming southeast late in the day 10-20 knots. Seas 2-4 feet. High UV Index.

Finally, if you have next week off it looks like you picked a winner. Other than a round of scattered showers and t-storms on Tuesday, much of the upcoming week looks nice with mild to warm temps and generally dry conditions.

Have a safe and wonderful weekend!
Danielle