[ZONAL FLOW KEEPS ANY TROPICAL SYSTEMS SUPPRESSED AND AWAY FROM NEW ENGLAND FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE… DROUGHT CONTINUES… ELEVATED FIRE DANGER BY LATE MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AS GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20-30MPH COMBINE WITH DRAMATICALLY DROPPING DEWPOINT TEMPS WITH MUCH LOWER HUMIDITY BY SECOND HALF OF THE DAY… COLD AND IN THE 30S TONIGHT… ABUNDANT SUNSHINE THIS WEEK… SOME SHOWERS POSSIBLE BY THURSDAY NIGHT… A COOL, SUNNY AUTUMN WEEKEND ARRIVES WITH HIGH-TERRAIN DWELLERS LIKELY STAYING IN THE 50S ON SUNDAY… 7:10AM MONDAY]

Good morning everybody, our cold front brought a few showers to the region last night, and we’ll take whatever we can get as moderate to severe drought continues across the WMass region and beyond in parts of New England.

Temps and dewpoints are up a bit this morning, but dewpoints and humidity will lower substantially through this afternoon. Any morning clouds will continue to dissipate to the east, revealing a mostly sunny day by afternoon.

Highs will only reach the mid 60s to low 70s today as high pressure builds and expands through the Great Lakes, pressing east toward New England.

As this higher pressure squeezes up against the departing cold front, which represents a trough of lower pressure, the pressure gradient will produce northwest winds gusting 20-30mph today, maximizing in the afternoon, and then dying off tonight.

OPEN FIRES ARE DISCOURAGED TODAY
Because of the combination of weather elements noted above, a higher risk of fire spread throughout the surface of our very dry region is evident today, so open fires are discouraged.

We don’t need any problems, so put off your gender reveal parties (how about, forever?), and save your open fires for tomorrow or Wednesday when the wind has died down.

By tonight, the wind dies down, and with clear skies, calm winds, and high pressure continuing to crest overhead, we’ll experience the coldest night since this past early Spring, with lows in the mid to upper 30s across the region.

Frost is not expected because dew points are not expected to reach 32º or below tonight.

For Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ll have a pair of sunny, dry, beautiful days with highs in the mid to upper 60s Tuesday and lows at night in the low to mid 40s. Wednesday will see highs warm into the low to mid 70s with lows in the 50s.

Wednesday is warmer due to high pressure building to our south, developing a southerly flow into the region.

By Thursday, high temps will peak for the next 10 days with highs in the mid to upper 70s, and clouds increasing into the region in advance of a cold front. Humidity will come up a bit, but won’t be overly intolerable.

Some scattered showers are expected Thursday afternoon into the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning, with lows dropping into the low to mid 50s.

Any morning clouds clear on Friday, revealing a mostly sunny day with lowering humidity, breezy northwest winds, and highs only in the mid to upper 60s with lows in the low 40s.

Next weekend looks gorgeous, sunny, and quite cool with highs only in the low to mid 60s Saturday and only in the upper 50s to low 60s on Sunday, with a low chance for frost by Monday morning, so stay tuned for updates on that.

Our weather is being dominated by a strong west-to-east (i.e. zonal) flow across the northern third of the country, so this will effectively shunt any potential tropical systems (of which there are currently a number) in the Atlantic south and away from New England.

Let’s hope that continues, although we need the rain, of course.

Have a great day!