The sun has returned! It’s been a long stretch of clouds – specifically, nine days since the last time Boston saw less than 50% cloud cover averaged over the course of a day – and the emerging strong sun will undoubtedly deliver an emotional boost to New Englanders.
Also getting a boost Thursday and Friday will be the pollen count and UV index, both reaching very high levels with the UV index very high for the first time this season as the sun angle continues to strengthen.
Adding to the sun and dry air and contributing to the rising pollen count will be a fresh breeze Thursday morning and midday that adds an invigorating feeling to our fresh spring air, but unlocks a myriad of tree pollen, led by maple.
A disturbance causing showers in the Great Lakes Thursday will move east, delivering variable clouds to New England Thursday night through Friday, but no rain is expected from these clouds.
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While Thursday’s wind blows from the west, keeping interior and coastline all pretty equal at 60 to 65 degrees, Friday’s wind shifts and blows gently off the ocean and is likely to hold daytime high temperatures in the 50s at the coast versus 60s inland.
Our First Alert Team has been paying close attention to Saturday’s forecast for days as a slug of intense atmospheric energy aloft is predicted to move overhead.
From several days out, there was concern this disturbance could cause a coastal storm close enough to the coast to bring a period of rain, but as we’ve neared Saturday, the speed of the disturbance has slowed and the track has nudged southward, leaving us with a Saturday forecast that now looks cloudy, but salvages at least the first half of the day in eastern New England. Showers will increase from western to central New England during the morning and midday, then expand east as scattered showers during the afternoon if all goes as planned.
The developing ocean storm chugs east by Sunday, delivering some well-deserved sunshine mixed with increasing clouds Sunday and mild temperatures with only a low chance of late-day showers, especially in far southern New England, before rain fills in from south to north Sunday night through Monday.
The middle of next week is looking good in our exclusive First Alert 10-day forecast, then rain chances rise again for the end of next week, hopefully departing before next weekend.
