Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Some Midday Rain Showers/Storms

If I were a high school athletic director, I would hold off on canceling any games or practices this afternoon until I saw the actual radar around noontime.  A cold front will slowly cross Southern New England bringing increased cloudiness and a good chance of showers and thunderstorms after noontime.  Temperatures will be around 70 pre-FROPA (frontal passage) before falling steadily into the 30's tonight.  Warmth will return by the weekend.

General Overview
I kept my windows open last night as temperatures only fell into the mid 50's.  As of 5 AM, most of interior Massachusetts was already approaching 60.  The South Coast, Cape, and Islands are all in the mid 40's.
RTMA 2 m temps 5 AM (image Weatherbell)
There is some sun right now but that will change.  A bank of clouds is just to our west and this will progress east with time.  For Central MA expect increasing clouds after 10 AM.
NOAA/NWS/NCEP Visible Satellite through 515 AM
Temperatures will steadily climb into the low 70's east of the front today.  That would include all of MA except the Berkshires and Cape as well as all of CT and RI.
NWS Max Temp Forecast Wednesday (image Weatherbell)
Unlike yesterday, we won't smash record high-temperature records but this is a solid 10-15 degrees above average.  Here is the simulated radar images for 1, 3, and 5 PM today.
09z HRRR Simulated Radar Wednesday 1 PM (image Weatherbell)
09z HRRR Simulated Radar Wednesday 3 PM (image Weatherbell)
09z HRRR Simulated Radar Wednesday 5 PM (image Weatherbell)
We aren't looking at much rain with these showers.  The one problem would be an isolated lightning strike.  But the downpours should not create many puddles on the fields so my professional opinion is to keep plans, just be aware there may be a brief delay.
NWS Precipitation Forecast Through 2 AM Thursday (image Weatherbell)
Temps will slowly fall after the rain ends.  It will be in the upper 40's by 9 PM and the upper 30's/low 40's by 5 AM.
NWS Minimum Temperature Forecast Thursday (image Weatherbell)
The cold front is well offshore by tomorrow morning and a cooler NW wind that sticks around into Saturday.  By "cooler" I mean high temps in the low 60's, which to me is incredibly pleasant.  The wind will be 10-15 MPH.
WPC Surface Fronts/Precipitation Thursday 8 AM
The next weather maker is just entering the Pacific NW now.  It will move across the country, perhaps delivering some rain Saturday night.  However, that rain will be associated with a warm front so by Easter we will be in the "Warm Sector".  Max temperatures will be in the mid to upper 70's (even a few 80's likely).   Conditions for the runners on Monday look swell, right around 60 with partly cloudy skies.  Jeans and sweatshirts for the fans, comfortable running conditions for the competitors.  

-Zack Green

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