Upper level winds brought a significant smoke plume across our sky from west central Canadian wildfires yesterday, and this continues into today, putting a veil over the sun once again in an otherwise mainly sunny sky. Some high clouds are crossing the sky as well this morning in association with convective activity passing to the southwest of New England, but these will exit at midday leaving us with just the smoke filter and eventually a few fair-weather flat cumulus clouds that may develop this afternoon too. An onshore wind in the wake of a back-door cold front will make today the coolest of this week, but a return to a land breeze tomorrow and the departure of the smoke plume will bring brighter sun and a warm-up. Thursday-Friday will be even warmer days but will not match exactly, weather-wise. High pressure keeps the weather settled with sun Thursday. Clouds and a stray shower or even a thunderstorm may cross the region, favoring western and northern areas, with a warm front Thursday night. This brings in slightly higher humidity for Friday, which those sensitive to may notice, and the approach of a cold front that day means more clouds and eventually the chance of a few showers/thunderstorms in the region, but at this point it does look like most of that day will be rain-free. Saturday, a west northwest air flow downslopping off the hills and mountains will keep us fairly warm and it will be a day with a fair amount of sun as well – a very nice start to the second weekend of May.
TODAY: Smoke-filtered sun & a few clouds. Highs 58-65, coolest at the coast. Wind E 5-15 MPH.
TONIGHT: Smoke clears out. Lows 35-40 inland with coolest in valley areas, 40-45 urban centers and immediate coast. Wind calm.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 62-69. Wind W up to 10 MPH.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy. Lows 48-55. Wind W up to 10 MPH.
THURSDAY: Partly sunny. Highs 70-77. Wind SW 5-15 MPH.
THURSDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm, favoring central MA and southwestern NH. Lows 51-58. Wind SW 5-15 MPH.
FRIDAY: Variably cloudy. Late-day or evening showers/thunderstorms possible. Highs 73-80. Wind SW 10-20 MPH.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Lots of clouds and a chance of showers early, then clearing. Lows 53-60. Wind W 5-15 MPH.
SATURDAY: Sun and passing clouds. Highs 70-77. Wind WNW 5-15 MPH.
DAYS 6-10 (MAY 14-18)
Fair weather hangs on to finish off the weekend on May 14. Unsettled weather early next week with low pressure passing through the region bringing a chance of showers or rain and a cooling trend, with fair weather returning later in the period.
DAYS 11-15 (MAY 19-23)
General pattern looks dry and somewhat seasonable though with variable temperatures. A weak trough in the region does bring the opportunity for a few showers here and there but no strong indications of bigger rain events.