LIGHTNING MELTS PAVEMENT AND STARTS FIRE IN HATFIELD, MA YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, AMAZING PHOTO ATTACHED BY SARAH SCHATZ… HEAT ADVISORIES CONTINUE FOR CENTRAL/EASTERN FRANKLIN, HAMPSHIRE, HAMPDEN COUNTIES, AS WELL AS CMASS AND N-CENTRAL & N-EAST CT AS ONE MORE HOT AND HUMID DAY REMINDS ME THAT AUTUMN CAN’T COME FAST ENOUGH *DUCKS HURLED ROTTEN TOMATOES*… ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DROP NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON… COLD FRONT RESTORES SANITY AND BREATHABLE AIR MASS BY TOMORROW… CRESCENT SUNRISE ECLIPSE FIRST THING THURSDAY AM… 6:45AM WED…
Good morning everybody, first of all, check out the attached photo by Sarah Schatz of a lightning bolt that struck the pavement near the center of Hatfield, MA, melted the pavement instantly, and ignited a fire that according to one nearby resident grew to 12 feet tall at one point! WHOA!!!
You don’t see that every day!
WHEN THUNDER ROARS, GO INDOORS
I can imagine that some people who are dispositionally rebellious, or don’t want to be told what to do may think that this phrase by the National Weather Service is trite, and even silly, this photo is direct evidence why it’s a best practice to get inside when storms approach. Lightning doesn’t just strike tall objects, and this is an archetypal case in point.
Uncle Dave has said his piece (or is it peace? It might be both).
A SOAKENING FOR SOME YESTERDAY
After a blast of scattered storms and downpours yesterday for many (but not all) of us, and some additional rain overnight, some folks saw several inches of rain soak into the ground in the past 24 hours.
WEATHER REPORT
Today we wake up to patchy fog in spots as temps have settled down into the 60s and 70s, aligning with the muggy dewpoint temps of similar values, hence saturation, condensation, and fog formation.
We’ve got one more day (thankfully) of hot and humid weather, and despite cloudy skies early, we should end up with a partly sunny day on average, and this sunshine will help to heat the surface up to the mid 80s to low 90s. With dewpoints in the mid 60s to low 70s, heat indices will rise above 95º once more, so take it easy out there if you don’t do well living and operating in a giant bowl of soup.
We’ve got a strong cold front already draped across the VT-NH/CANADA border, and slicing through southern Aroostook County (a/k/a “The County”) in Maine, with much drier air behind it.
This will drop south through the region tonight, and before that happens, the incoming lift along with ample moisture, instability, and strong low level lapse rates will once again give rise to more scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon, especially mid afternoon into the early evening.
Some storms may cause street flooding, frequent lightning, and gusty winds.
The front sweeps through later tonight, and should begin to drop humidity levels substantially after midnight and by tomorrow morning, while clearing some of or all of the cloud deck.
SOLAR ECLIPSE
This should set us up for at least partly cloudy skies with glimpses or straight up clear views to the east-northeast of our annular (i.e. partial) solar eclipse that will rise with the Sun just after 5am, peak around 5:30am, and be over by 6:30am.
A magical crescent Sun will provide for a most celestial beginning to our new, dry, pleasant air mass for the new day.
Personally, I will be levitating 500 feet up in the lotus position with my third eye radiating star-ward.
Maybe you’ll see me up there?
Wave if you do.
#DavesReallyPuttingTheNutInWeatherNutToday
As for our weather going forward, Thursday is gorgeous with mostly sunny skies, much lower dewpoint temps/humidity, and highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s – my kind of summer day!
Lows will crash into the upper 40s to low 50s from high terrain to low, as the sound of windows being lifted skyward resound across the region…. aaahhhhhhhhhh…..
Mostly sunny skies develop again for Friday with cooler highs in the low to mid 70s. Clouds increase later in the day and some showers with a passing system to our south may move in overnight into early Saturday morning, but they look light at the moment. Lows will again drop into the 50s.
For the weekend, we’re looking pretty darn good, if you ask me, with a few morning Saturday showers, and then mostly sunny skies developing with highs well into the 70s and lows in the 50s with clear skies.
Sunday looks warmer, with highs in the mid 70s to low 80s under partly sunny skies. We should see some showers develop by Sunday night into Monday.
It’s looking a bit unsettled early to middle of next week with a colder pool of air aloft allowing for daily afternoon scattered showers to develop Monday and Tuesday with highs in the 75-80º range, and lows in the mid to upper 50s.
Humidity should stay generally on the low side, and no washouts or severe weather are expected.
One more hot, muggy, and downpour-y day, folks, and then we’re rewarded with an auspiciously celestial and pleasant day tomorrow.
If you love this weather, get out and soak in it, as Madge from the 70s Palmolive commercial used to declare.
#YourSoakingInIt