Good morning folks, as has been the case the past few days, we’ve built strong surface heating and humidity pools throughout the day, and either a Great Lakes breeze, or terrain feature has been enough to get air rising and eventually pop the cap aloft to allow very tall strong to severe thunderstorms to bloom, and that should be the case again tonight.

While anyone could see an isolated to scattered strong to severe storm, the best chance is south of Rt. 2 in WMass and northwest CT, then tracking east toward CMass and northeast CT.

Straight line wind damage is the main threat with these storms, as last night’s single / lone storm produced plenty of wind damage reports, so if one of these cells approaches this evening, best to get inside away from windows if you catch my drift. These 8-11 mile tall storms really develop a lot of wind inside of them.

Of course, the most impactful storm for most of us is the continued extreme heat and humidity and Extreme Heat Warnings continue through Saturday with highs in the low 90s to 100º today, pushing heat indices into the 100-110º range. This will be the last day of this level of combined heat and humidity, thankfully!

You know the drill: drink beer all day, smoke butts, due as many cartwheels as you can, stop drop and roll, and then eat pizza out in the heat of the day… I kid!!!! I kid!!!!!

Stay hydrated, cool down when you can, and take rest: this heat and humidity is no joke and it DOES cause heat illnesses in some people like Heat Exhaustion or Heat Stroke, so check the attached graphics for symptoms, and take good care of yourself. A list of cooling centers follows:

COOLING CENTERS
Please click the following link for a list of WMass Cooling Centers, and if folks know of others, feel free to list them in the comments:

https://www.413cares.org/warming-cooling-centers

After any storms tonight we’ll remain very warm and humid with lows only in the low to mid 70s overnight.

For Saturday the 4th of July, right now it looks like we’ll be hot and humid again for one more day, but it won’t be as rough as these past few days with highs in the mid 80s to mid 90s (still plenty hot, though!), and I will be watching a cold front drop south through the region sometime in the afternoon.

The timing matters, as the earlier it comes through, the less chance the heat will be allowed to maximize, pushing the severe threat further south into northern CT and possibly out of the greater WMass region.

Still, we’ll see scattered showers and downpours in the afternoon with embedded thunderstorms, and any storm could become strong to severe.

By later in the evening, most activity should be south of us and diminished, but some activity may linger.

The bottom line is have a contingency plan for outdoor grilling and activities in case the weather turns on you. Lows will drop into the low to mid 60s as cooler air starts to slowly filter in.

By Sunday, a few showers may linger in the morning, but we should see a drier period in the middle of the day with partly sunny skies developing and highs in the low to mid 80s.

However, I am now tracking potential for a storm to develop along the front to our south and track east along it and push periods of rainfall back into our region possibly Sunday night through Monday night, and ending sometime early Tuesday.

Highs early next week will only be in the mid 70s to low 80s, which compared to this recent spate of hateful heat will feel like we’ve arrived in an oasis!

More sun is expected by mid-week, along with warming temperatures back into the 80s for highs.

Have a great a day and stay cool and hydrated best you can!

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”
― Joseph Campbell

YOUR NUTSHELL:
–Another very hot and humid day ahead with highs in the 90s to 100º, dewpoints in the upper 60s to 70s, and heat indices in the 110-110º range
–Mostly sunny during much of the day, light wind
–Another round of strong to severe thunderstorm clusters is expected somewhere in the greater WMass region tonight
–Most likely central to southern Berkshires down into northwest CT, tracking east
–Main threat is damaging straight line wind gusts from severe thunderstorms, and torrential rain with frequent lightning
–We could see a shower or storm before 5pm, but any time after 5pm into the night time hours is main timeframe for storm impacts
–Lows tonight will be in the low to mid 70s
–For Saturday the 4th of July, we’ll still be hot and humid, but the ridge recedes south, so highs will be more in the mid 80s to mid 90s with more clouds than today
–A cold front drops through the region probably during the day with scattered afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms
–The strongest cells probably occur south of the Pike but anyone could see a strong to severe t-storm as the front acts on this soupy air mass
–Lows Saturday night dip into the low 60s with a few showers or a storm around
–Sunday is a mixed day with cooler highs in the 80s, and potential for showers, both in the morning with some lingering post-frontal activity, and at night with coastal low pressure potentially forming
–The Sunday night, Monday into Tuesday timeframe may bring periods of beneficial rainfall if a storm forms and tracks along the front
–Highs Monday and Tuesday sit back down into the mid 70s to low 80s with lows 55-60º before more sunshine develops mid-week with warming temps well into the 80s

YOUR DAILY CELESTIALS
STAR:
–OUR STAR ROSE AT: 5:19am this morning
–OUR STAR SETS AT: 8:29pm this evening
–TOTAL DAYLIGHT TIME: 15 hours and 10 minutes

MOON:
–OUR MOON RISES AT: 10:49pm tonight
–MOON RISE DIRECTION: East-Southeast
–OUR MOON SETS AT: 9:45am tomorrow morning
–MOON SET DIRECTION: West-Southwest
–MOON PHASE: Waning Gibbous (89.2% Illumination)