After days of showers and thunder, one might think any change is good change, and if you like summer warmth, today you’d be right on.
The slow-moving upper level storm system that provided atmospheric energy to feed showers and storms for the last few days has finally nudged southeast and offshore, allowing drier air to stream into New England with plenty of sun.
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There’s still humidity in the air, which will not only bring actual high temperatures of 85 to 90 degrees to a heat index value around or just over 90, but also will mean a new afternoon and evening disturbance dropping from north to south over New England may carry a few isolated thunderstorms with it. Only about a 20% chance for storms arise around or just after suppertime for most of us, but a higher likelihood for late day in Maine.
Variable clouds Thursday night accompany a lingering humidity that will make for an uncomfortable sleeping night for most, except in Maine, where new cool and less humid air will be arriving on a developing northeast wind.
That cooler northeast wind takes hold for all of New England Friday, arriving east in the predawn and taking until afternoon to reach the New York state border. This means the western half of New England has an elevated chance of showers and thunderstorms Friday, particularly during the afternoon, as the air changes.
The new, less humid air will take hold for the holiday weekend, delivering a fair sky with delightful air and highs near 80 on the Fourth of July. The beaches and coastal communities will see a continued onshore wind from ocean water, though, with temperatures around 70 degrees. Coastal Independence Day temperatures probably won’t exceed the lower 70s.
The wind shifts Sunday, so even the beaches will be able to warm pleasantly.
Next week, the warmer-than-normal weather pattern for the month of July gets underway, as predicted by our First Alert Team. Temperatures will rise through the 80s and reach 90 by the week’s end with a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms along the way as humidity settles back into New England in our exclusive First Alert 10-day forecast.
