We are finishing April with some of the coldest average temperatures on record for this time of year in New England. Now we get a few days of warmer weather with the arrival of May. But the transition is a wet and potentially windy one.
An influx of warmer and more moist air aloft is moving into New England from the south, on a strengthening and expanding southerly wind ahead of a storm system slowly churning east out of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.
That new warmth and moisture colliding with existing cool air brought moderate rain to parts of western New England this morning and that rain has moved north and eased leaving lingering sprinkles from lots of clouds the rest of the day with temperatures slowly rising out of the 40s in any cool pockets still left over.
A stronger front moves in tonight with a shot of rain expanding over New England before dawn Friday. It lasts through the morning and midday, dropping localized downpours and even some embedded thunder. Wind from the south will result in temperatures rising through the 50s, with gusts of 40-50 mph for a short time from west to east.
By Friday afternoon, the bulk of the rain will be shifting east, but the upper atmosphere energy that drove the storm center will still be approaching from the east, meaning scattered showers or even rumbles of thunder may still develop late Friday into Friday evening, and a few showers may linger through Friday night and even into early Saturday morning in eastern New England.
Saturday brings improvement! A developing north-northwest wind gusting 30-35 mph carries in drier air, so as our rainmaking storm center pulls away to the east, sunshine takes over and temperatures rise into the 60s.
Weather Stories
Sunday looks to be the best of the next ten days: sun and clouds, with a slight chance of a few showers and temperatures near 70 degrees.
Next week doesn't look warm – it won't be as cool as this week began (in other words, high temperatures shouldn't be stuck in the lower 40s) but we'll turn cooler than normal again after our nice weekend. We'll see high temperatures of 55 to 60 degrees with occasional showers possible Monday and again around Wednesday/Thursday in the exclusive First Alert 10-day forecast.
