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.
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!
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! 
Flooding Rains and Damaging Winds moved through during the overnight hours. The worst of the rain and wind are over, but the region will still feel the grip of this Nor’easter through Monday with a series of significant impacts from this storm. The storm is stalling south of New England. High Pressure in Canada, with this Low to the south is producing pronounced and persistant onshore wind with very high seas and battering waves at the coast. A deep dip in the jetstream along the eastearn seaboard is directing moisture from the tropics into New England so periodic rain can be expected through Monday before the trough finally pushes far enough eastward that drier air can finally star to move in by Tuesday to provide a stellar week of weather ahead with temps in the 50’s nearing 60! Let’s Break It All Down Inside. It is another most impressive weather event!
Damaging Wind Overnight
The winds first ravaged Fairfield County, CT Saturday Afternoon. Winds were gusting to 65 mph in Greenwich toppling trees and powerlines. At that time JFK airport was receiving a gust to 75 mph! Numerous reports of damaging winds from NJ to the Bronx through Long Island. That damaging core of wind impacted the south coast last night…arriving late at night…with the Peak winds occurring between 12 AM and 6AM in the morning. Charlestown, RI reporting a gust of 75 mph. Blue Hill Observatory gusted to 68 mph. Winds over 60 mph lashed the Cape & Islands. These winds brought down trees, limbs and blew around many unsecured items. The winds are not damaging anymore….but they remain active with sustained winds 30-45 mph at the coast. Another round of strong winds from the Northeast is possible late tonight into tomorrow. A periodic gust over 50 mph for eastern facing beaches can not be ruled out until this storm pulls away.
Coastal Flooding
Seas have quickly built to 12 to 22 feet off the coast. These waves are huge that are being directed towards our eastern facing beaches with these persistant onshore winds. This piling of water will have a significant impact during High Tides along the entire coastline of Massachusetts. Most of the next high tides will produce minor coastal flooding with pockets of moderate. Significant beach erosion is likely along with numerous road closures at these times.
Flooding Rainfall
A widespread 3-6″ rainfall will occur when all the rain is finally finished by early Tuesday morning.
Lighter amounts in western valleys and on the Cape 2-4″. We have already picked up 3-5″ in many areas and will continue to add to this total in the next 36 hours with rain continuing in eastern area. Many of us woke up to flooded streets and parking lots with the heavy downpours this morning. This heavy rain not abated and has flooded many basements too unfortunately. What a mess! The rain with Periodic downpours will last into tomorrow …so we are not out of the woods yet. Rain will end after midnight Monday. Mixing with wet snow in the NW hills Monday..where it is possible for a couple inches of snow in elevations above 1000 feet.
Flooding Rivers and Streams
Rapid rises on many rivers and streams due to the copious amounts of rainfall. The water is running off into these rivers and many in central and southern New England will go above flood stage tonight into tomorrow.
The Pawtuxet, Yantic, Charles, Assabet, Shawsheen, Spicket, Piscataquog all will likely see flooding through Tuesday…some moderate. People living along these rivers should monitor and take necessary action to protect lives and property. Most importantly…stay away from the rushing water!
THE FORECAST:
Morning
Heavy Flooding Rain & Strong Winds . Temps in the 30’s to Near 40 NE winds gusting 35 to 55 mph at the coast.
Afternoon
Heavy Rain will lift north by the midday & afternoon….lingering lighter showers persist. Windy, cool and raw. Highs Near 42. NE wind 30 to 40 mph
NECN Programming Notes
NECN will be airing the famous St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast. Starting 10 AM Sunday until 12:30 PM
Also! Do you want to watch the Parade but do not feel like braving the rain & wind?
Stay Dry and watch Comcast! Turn on Channel 283….or Channel 12 for Boston/Brookline!
We will be broadcasting the Parade Live from 12:30 PM-3 PM in all it’s Irish Glory!
Heavy Rain and wind has pushed into New England Saturday Afternoon. Winds have gusted over 60 mph in Greenwich, CT. 60 mph gust at New London, CT. 56 mph gust at Marstons Mills on the Cape. These winds have been taking down trees and power lines. These damaging winds will shift from the Cape up through eastern MA during the early morning hours. A High wind warning has been issued for NE winds 35 to 45 mph, Gusts to 60+ mph. These Strong winds are penetrating into the interior hills too! The strongest gusts will occur at the coast.
Heavy rain is producing hazardous and blinding travel tonight in downpours. Rapid rises on rivers and streams with plenty of urban flooding through tomorrow morning.
Heaviest rain will be found in Eastern Massachusetts where 3-5+” could fall by the time this is all over. Lighter amounts of rain on the Cape & in western Valleys..The rain and wind will be heavy Sunday morning and gradually work it’s way up the coast into Northern New England by Midday Sunday and Sunday afternoon. Sunday will be a very chilly raw day as highs will struggle to reach 40 degrees in the rain and wind. The morning deluge will taper to a lighter rain south for the afternoon…so conditions will become slightly better for the St. Patrick’s parade in Southie….though it will still be raining on our Parade…the worst of the storm will be winding down. Full weather Discussion Inside!
Colder air being drawn into the backside of this low with a northeast wind will be just cold enough to change any rain over to accumulating snow in the northwest hills Saturday Night…the best place for accumulating wet snow will be in the Monadnock Region, Green Mountains and the Berkshires where over 3-6″ of snow could occur above 1200′
The heaviest rain will occur in southern new England between 8 PM and 10 AM. Lingering heavy rain will continue in Northeast MA through the midday. Seas will be building off the coast to 15-25 feet offshore with this storm. This storm is stalling south of the region as it is running into a blocking area of high pressure in Canada. The differences in air pressure is creating a serious funnelling effect of wind into New England. This prolonged onshore wind will allow a piling of water during the high tides which will cause more beach erosion and the potential for minor/moderate coastal flooding. We will have to monitor each high tide cycle. Luckily we are currently in a low astronomical tide so that should keep problems at a minimum. Still a surge of 2-2.5 feet is likely with the battering waves which will help to flood your typical flood-prone areas along shore roads. The late morning high tides Sunday & Monday from Gloucester to Revere, to Scituate can expect beach erosion, road closures, flooded basements.
Lingering rain will last into through much of Monday before our Low finally pulls far enough away. High pressure will build in for the Midweek with sunshine and warming temps into the 50’s just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Highs will climb above 60 degrees by Friday! The question is does a cold front move through to cool us Saturday?…or can we squeeze out one more day in the 60’s before our next disturbance moves through to end out next weekend?
Don’t Forget!
Daylight Savings Begins this Weekend. We will be springing ahead 1 hour before going to bed Saturday Night…officially 2 AM Sunday….Sunset Sunday 6:49 PM!
A little bit of everything across the nation today
Yesterday I was thinking that steadier showers may try to make their way into southern New England tomorrow, but that does not look like the case (which is good news, right?). Northern New England may even hold on to some filtered sunshine through the day on Friday, while central and southern New England stay mostly cloudy.
My current thinking is that some patchy light rain and drizzle will develop on Friday night and early Saturday in southern New England. Steadier rainfall will move in during the afternoon and evening from southwest to northeast, reaching as far north as southern VT and NH. The heaviest rain arrives overnight Saturday and Sunday morning, falling the hardest south of the MA Pike. I’m still thinking rainfall totals will generally run between 1-2 inches for much of New England (lesser amounts in the North Country). A persistent onshore flow will continue through the weekend, gusting at times over 40 mph at the shore.
The storm will pass south and east of Nantucket on Monday. Counter-clockwise flow around this area of low pressure means that a north-northeast wind will wrap colder air down from eastern Canada into New England. In turn, we could be dealing with rain AND snow showers early Monday, although little if any snow should accumulate.
Random side note: 4 of my friends from my grad school days down at Florida State are visiting Beantown for the first time this weekend (2 coming from Texas, 2 from Florida)! I told them they should have come last weekend because the weather was perfect! Oh well, we’ll just need to have the umbrella handy while we tour the city.
Will update you tomorrow on any changes. Have a great Thursday!
You’ll need those shades again today because the sun just won’t stop shining (and I’m ok with that)! We’re going on Day 5 of beautiful weather here in New England, but this trend won’t last too much longer, so enjoy it while it lasts. Take a look at the forecast diagram for Concord, NH above…notice the daily sunshine duration row…ZERO sun forecast for Friday through Monday. Check out other cities by heading to weather.us. Tomorrow will start off with sunshine, but clouds will increase throughout the day in advance of the next storm. Thursday night could feature a few light showers and areas of drizzle, but there is enough dry air in place across the region that the bulk of the moisture will hold off until the weekend.
Southern and central New England will get into steadier rain on Friday and Saturday, while northern New England stays mostly dry. Bands of heavier rain will organize on Saturday night, eventually spreading into northern New England. An east wind may increase to gale force overnight on Saturday too, bringing the potential for some minor coastal flooding. Periodic rain will continue on Sunday, possibly mixing with snow in the mountains of Maine, and tapering to showers in southern and central New England.
By the end of the weekend, we could be looking at widespread rainfall totals between 1 to 3 inches. Combine that with a melting snow pack across the northern interior and flooding of our streams and rivers becomes a concern…certainly something to monitor over the coming few days.
On Monday, colder air will wrap around the backside of the storm allowing off and on rain showers to change to snow showers possibly as far south as the higher elevations of southern New England. The entire storm shifts east on Tuesday, meaning sunshine returns along with temperatures around 50!
Keep you posted on the weekend…have a great day!
What a gorgeous stretch of weather we’ve had across New England over the past several days! Temperatures yesterday soared well into the 50s and lower 60s. Portland, ME broke their previous record high of 54° (1995) reaching 56° and Bangor, ME tied their previous record of 52° (1995).
Today will be slightly cooler in the wake of a weak cold front passage overnight, but highs will still come into the 50s in southern New England, 40s central and 30s in the North Country. This cold front also brought in a reinforcing shot of dry air, and in turn, sunshine will be the rule once again this afternoon.
Wednesday will be a few degrees cooler along the coastline as a weak sea breeze develops during the afternoon. By Thursday, clouds will be on the increase, although aside from a few showers late in the day, we should remain dry. The steadier rain will hold off until after dark.
More rain and potentially some mountain snow is forecast for Friday and the weekend as a slow moving storm currently over the nation’s midsection will head towards New England, eventually moving east of the region by the beginning of next week. This could even mean some snow showers in the higher elevations of southern New England by Monday. We’ll have to watch this system closely and fine tune the details in the days to come, but for now, plan on unsettled weather Friday through Monday.
So enjoy today!
