Welcome to the weather blog - a regular Monday through Friday discussion of the weather! While the discussions usually will only come on days I'm working, I'll issue special updates when the weather warrants. I will always post to let you know when no discussion is expected if I'm away on vacation, etc. - if no update is here and no info is available, that likely means the server has temporarily gone on the fritz and I will update as soon as technically possible. You'll find a quick weather synopsis linked to the daily forecast at the top of the page, a general non-technical weather summary below, and when available (most days) a detailed technical meteorological discussion will follow by mid-afternoon. My email is contact@mattnoyes.net. This blog is for you, so I hope you enjoy it! -Matt Noyes
General Weather Summary:
All Watches/Warnings/Advisories:
You can access active warnings for your area two ways through this site. 1) Use the "WeatherBug" utility on the top left of the page by entering your zip code. This utility WILL NOT download any software to your computer and is entirely web-based. If you do not know your zip code, I've included a link to a zip code lookup utility below the feature. 2) Use the link I've provided on the left of this page under the "Active Advisories and Current Conditions" section. Both of these tools are ALWAYS here on my page, despite the weather.
Useful links:
Latest river observations and forecasts can be found from the Northeast River Forecast Center by clicking here. Do notice the tab at the top of their map, to be sure you're looking at either forecasted or observed conditions.
Mariners, please utilize the links always located here on my page to the left, under the "Marine Interests" section.
Thursday's Discussion:
Slowly but surely, New England is finally breaking free of the grip of our prolonged and powerful storm. Though the storm center has been steadily moving away from New England and southeast of Nova Scotia, spokes of moisture and energy have continued to rotate around it. In time, however, a major pattern change will take hold of our region.
One of these spokes of disturbed weather moved through New England Thursday morning with another round of clouds and showers, but marked the leading edge to drier air being carried south from Quebec on a persistent northeast wind. It's rare to see dry air coming into New England on a northeast wind, but this pocket of drying was available in Eastern Canada and our northeast wind direction was persistent enough to drain it souhtward, serving as a cloud eraser for a break of gorgeous sunshine in all areas for several hours either side of midday Thursday. The next spoke of energy and moisture will pivot south down the Maine coastline through Central and especially Eastern New England later Thursday afternoon, clouding the skies over once again. Enough dry air will be present in the lowest few thousand feet of the atmosphere, however, to limit drizzle and showers with this next round of clouds - perhaps just a few sprinkles will make it to the ground in Eastern Massachusetts. Otherwise, expect these clouds to begin the night Thursday night in eastern areas, but give way to the drier air surrounding them as the spoke of energy continues to twirl southward and back over the ocean.
Winds have been dying down, as well, and this has aided in settling the seas a bit. Though waves will still be either side of 10 feet through Thursday, they are below levels that would cause significant problems with regard to coastal flooding above anything more than minor flooding during the Thursday afternoon and overnight high tides. With the significant precipitation over, rivers will also continue receding.
Clouds are likely to linger in Eastern Southern New England through Thursday night, but will give way to drier air and therefore clearing skies once again on Friday. This time, it appears as though the beginning of a pattern change will be underway, with milder and continued relatively dry air spreading across New England, allowing temperatures to climb well into the 50s to near 60 under increasing sun on Friday, and even into the lower 70s with plenty of sun Saturday, though likely cooler across most of Maine where it's much more difficult to bring warmth in, especially thanks to the combination of cool air that will be sluggish to depart and a cool Gulf of Maine to our south, and cooler along all coastlines with a sea breeze. By Sunday, sea breezes will linger at the coasts and may penetrate as many as 20 miles inland, but indications are that warmth continues through the interior.
A strengthening storm will move across the Great Lakes while high pressure settles over the Mid-Atlantic on Monday, and this will usher in a strong west-southwest wind flow, carrying a chunk of warmth east across New England, and boosting temperatures near 80 for many! And so it begins! The start of a weather pattern change that will relax the big storms churning near and east of New England, allowing the northwest wind flow to relax and warmer than normal temperatures to spread in, on average, THROUGH THE END OF APRIL!
Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel for New Englanders.
Technical Discussion: None today.
Matt
