Taunton River
The incredible warm and dry stretch weather is coming to an end unfortunately. It was amazing. The memories will get us through until the warmth returns again! But all good things come to an end…so we move on! A cold front is on the move tonight bringing clouds and a windshift. East winds will prevail Sunday with a mix of sun & clouds. The wind off the cooler water will guarantee a much cooler day across New England…with highs primarily in the 40’s North and Coast…with 50’s south…even some lwr 60’s in the CT river valley. Though it will be cooler, conditons will be mostly dry with brighter skies south and more clouds north, where there is the best chance of a shower or two.
We are watching a storm system in the midwest which has been bringing snow through the plains and strong storms from Texas, LA and AK. Cooler Polar air has pushed back into the USA and is colliding against the surge of unseasonal warmth in place along the eastern half of the country. As the cool continues to push up against this warmth, this low will track towards the mid-atlantic states and track south of New England Monday Night-Through Tuesday. Clouds along with scattered showers in the NW in advance of this storm will be in place Monday. But the real slug of rain moves through Monday Night-Tuesday.
This will come with about 1-2″ of rain…so the rain will be heavy at times. Gale force winds will occur along the coast at this time where winds will gust to 30-40 mph. Seas will build upto 15 feet off the coast.
There is high anxiety right now from those who have suffered flooding damage about any more water. The good news is this will not stall and keep moving. This will keep rain amounts much lower than the previous storm. There has been lots of dry air this week which has allowed the soil to recover and will be able to absorb most of this coming rain. The bad news is rivers are still running awfully high. They are just starting to go below flood stage and any heavy rain just might take these rivers out of their banks and go back into flood for a time.
Rain may mix with a bit of wet snow early Wednesday morning. Otherwise, look for increasing sunshine for the middle to end of the week with seasonably normal temperatures in the 40’s and lwr 50’s
Rumor has it that it’s possible to balance an egg on the day of the spring equinox, but this myth simply isn’t true.
The legend of standing a raw egg on its end on the first day of spring can be attributed to the Chinese. They believed that due to the sun’s equidistant position between the poles of the Earth at the time of the equinox, special gravitational forces apply.
While you may be able to balance an egg with patience on the day of the spring equinox, this can also be done on every other day of the year with the same results.
See ya later winter! We are saying a big hello to Spring this weekend! The Vernal Equinox officially is 1:32 PM. Today is the day the sun rises due east, and sets due west. The sun is shining directly over the Equator giving the Northern and Southern Hemispheres equal amount of day and night. The earth will now start to tilt a little more and more towards the sun as we approach thee Summer Solstice. Days will get longer and longer. Obviously, with the increased radiation from the Sun temps will be getting warmer.
Talk about warm! Today our temperatures will be about 20-25 degrees above normal! Many areas in the south this Saturday will have highs climbing to near 70 or above. Records will not be broken like yesterday, but it will feel warmer, especially along the coast..where a west wind should be able to hold off the seabreeze. This airmass is more typical of early June than late March! Enjoy it today, because a cold front moves through Sunday, bringing a wind shift a return to more seasonal spring like air.
What an early spring treat this week has been!
Spring Skiing this weekend with plenty of wide open terrain! Temps will be in the 50’s today with abundant sunshine. Bring the sunscreen, sunglasses and a light fleece. Loose granular and corn snow will soften as the day procedes. Most ski areas in Northern New England are close to 100% open…so just because winter is over and there is no snow in your backyard….conditions are epic for awesome time this weekend! Wish I could join you.
The 4th and 5th graders at the Immaculate Conception School in Lowell, MA show their enthusiasm and St. Patrick’s Day spirit to Matt Noyes!
Spring flowers in North Attleboro, MA (courtesy of Terry O'Neill)
Expect the mercury to rise to either side of 70 degrees across the interior, while the immediate coastline stays cooler courtesy of a sea breeze. Northern Maine will be the only other exception, where a backdoor cold front keeps the cooler air (40s and 50s) in place.
Tomorrow, a stronger west wind will penetrate all the way to the water’s edge, allowing the warmth to do the same. At the same time, a cool front will slip through northern New England keeping temperatures there in the 50s. In any case, mostly sunny skies will prevail – what a way to kick off Spring (which starts at officially 1:32 PM by the way)!
On Sunday, the chance of showers comes into northern New England as the front shifts a little farther south and stalls near the MA/NH border. A northeast wind coming off 40 degree ocean water means temperatures will be noticeably cooler, especially along the coast. Interior southern New England will still manage to top out in the 60s.
Meanwhile, the latest forecast trend has been to slow down the next storm system expected to impact us during the beginning of next week. Monday will feature temperatures in the 50s with periodic showers that will become steadier overnight. The best chance of heavy rain will be on Tuesday, with the possibility of some flooding all over again. Sunshine and seasonable weather returns for the middle part of next week with unsettled conditions by week’s end.
Have a fantastic Spring weekend! 
That flooding rain last weekend was heavy snow in the white Mountains of New Hampshire. Check the deep new snow in this SkiNH video shot Tuesday March 16, 2010 at Waterville Valley New Hampshire.
Photo submitted to Sky Scenes by Genny164
A modestly strong westerly wind should keep the chilly ocean breezes at bay allowing the warm temperatures to reach all the way to our coastlines. I bet our own Tim Kelley could tell us the last time we reached 70 degrees here at NECN. I’m going to guess one of those really warm days back in the beginning of November. I’ll be watching the observations carefully today and will tweet if anyone reaches that magical number.
Meanwhile, the length of our days has grown to just over 12 hours with sunset right before 7 PM and we’re gaining approximately 3 more minutes of sunlight with each passing day. That’s great news because the sun will be shining for most of us these next few days. It also means great spring conditions for skiing, and I’m going to try and get out there one more time this weekend. Skies will become mostly cloudy in northern New England on Sunday though, with the chance of a few showers late in the day. Rain and wind moves in for all of us on Monday as a cold front slices through New England bringing cooler temperatures into the Northeast on Tuesday.
Enjoy this beautiful stretch of weather and have a great Thursday!
Pictures of the flooding keep streaming into Sky Scenes, and Matt takes a few minutes to highlight some of the amazing photos sent in by you.
Do you have your own pictures you’d like to send us? It takes mere moments to sign up for a Flickr account and start uploading directly to the Sky Scenes group, where every one of the thousands of pictures I’ve received are posted. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE EASY INSTRUCTIONS TO SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS!
To see the still image gallery, displaying a large number of air-quality photographs we’ve received (but not necessarily had time to air all of), CLICK HERE!
To peruse the video archive of our on-air segments, click the “Sky Scenes” tab at the top of our Weather Blog, here at WeatherNewEngland.com.
The heavens are lightning up Green for Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2010.
It was brought to our attention we have high solar activity this week. So we checked out SpaceWeather.com.. look what we found. This letter was sent..
Dear Dr.Phillips and all at SpaceWeather.com,
May we show an aurora image from you on our NECN TV News here in New England?
We will tell everyone to go to SpaceWeather.com for more.
Also, how would you feel about us posting a photo on our NewEnglandWeather.com blog, with link and credit to you?
This is the response (ya!).
Dear Tim,
Permission granted, with pleasure. regards, Tony
Here is a brief description, and image, lifted from Dr. Tony Phillips, SpaceWeather.com.
“This green corona lit up the night sky sky over the weekend,” reports photographer Fredrik Broms of Kvaløya, Norway. “It was absolutely breathtaking–and the best may be yet to come!”
He’s right. A coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading toward Earth and it could spark strong geomagnetic activity when it arrives on March 17th or 18th. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.
Mostly clear skies should make for fine viewing the next couple nights, though some clouds are crossing northern New England, where we set more record high temperatures again today. More of the same into the weekend! Our first 70° since December 3, 2009 will be Thursday or Friday.
.
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU, ME
0426 PM EDT WED MAR 17 2010
…RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT BANGOR ME…
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 62 DEGREES WAS SET AT BANGOR ME TODAY.
THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 62 SET IN 1936.
Anyone Remember The March 1936 Flood of record for New England?
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU, ME
0426 PM EDT WED MAR 17 2010
…RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT CARIBOU ME…
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 54 DEGREES WAS SET AT CARIBOU ME TODAY.
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 45 SET IN 2007.
Portland ME also set record of 64°, beating 62° March 17, 1990.
Top o’ the morning to ya New England! It’s been a chilly start out there this morning with a few patchy areas of frost and black ice on some of the roads, but they will melt away quickly as temperatures rebound quite nicely; expect highs in the 60s for most of us this afternoon, although local sea breezes will keep our coastlines a few degrees cooler along with the North Country. Sunshine will dominate the skies making for a beautiful St. Patrick’s Day (too bad it couldn’t have been this nice for all of the Parades this past Sunday!).
High pressure remains in control over the next several days, so aside from a few clouds from time to time, our sunny and dry stretch of weather continues right on into the weekend. West-soutwest flow keeps us mild too and temperatures will run anywhere between 5 and 25 degrees above the average for this time of year. Keep in mind the “coolest” spots will be right along the ocean and in far northern New England.
It looks like the official start to Spring this Saturday is going to be a beauty! Somebody *may* even hit 70 degrees!
By Sunday, clouds will be on the increase out ahead of a cold front approaching from the west. It’ll be breezy as the wind picks up out of the south throughout the day. Any rain should hold off until after dark, but we’ll keep an eye on the timing and let you know if any showers are expected to creep in earlier.
The heaviest rain will fall on Monday as the front slides through, perhaps even accompanied by a few isolated thunderstorms. This will usher in noticeably cooler temperatures (in the 40s for most) next Tuesday, although the sunshine will return for another extended stay.
In the meantime, stream and river levels across New England continue to recede. For the latest information on observed and forecast river conditions, visit the Northeast River Center homepage by clicking HERE.
Have a great Wednesday!
