Wednesday May 20 2026 Forecast (7:05AM)

118 Comments

DAYS 1-5 (MAY 20-24)

One more “summer preview” day today with very warm to hot air and moderate to high humidity in place until its pushed out by a cold front passing through the region. As this front moves through today, the atmosphere above is not as supportive for thunderstorms as it was yesterday, and the trigger point is further south, so I’m expecting the greatest chance for scattered activity to be from the I-90 belt southward this afternoon and evening, favoring the South Coast region the later it gets. It doesn’t mean we can’t see an isolated shower or storm to the north, but the chances are definitely lower up that way. The front will settle just to our south tonight into Thursday, and as a weak low pressure wave rides along it, a cloud canopy will remain in place, limiting Thursday’s sunshine quite a bit. In fact, some additional showers can move across the South Coast region, particularly during the morning hours. We may set up for a colorful sunset however, depending on the location of the edge of the cloud deck at the time the sun goes down. High pressure builds in with fair and seasonable weather for Friday. Will it hold into the weekend? The answer is: no. The high gives way to a slow return of the frontal boundary from the south, which allows clouds to increase on Saturday as low pressure gets set to track to our south. This process will be slow enough that despite losing the sunshine I do think we get through most of that day dry before rain arrives in the evening or at night from southwest to northeast, and continues during Sunday. Additional details about the full Memorial Day Weekend forecast will appear on tomorrow’s blog update.

TODAY: Variably cloudy. Shower and thunderstorm potential from late morning through afternoon, with highest thunderstorm potential I-90 belt southward. Highs 69-76 Cape Cod / Islands, 77-84 southeastern CT and southern RI to MA South Shore, 85-92 elsewhere. Wind SW increasing to 10-20 MPH, higher gusts possible, especially near any storms.

TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy. Lows 51-58. Wind NW 5-15 MPH.

THURSDAY: Mostly cloudy. Morning showers possible South Coast. Highs 62-69. Wind NW 5-15 MPH.

THURSDAY NIGHT: Clearing. Lows 43-50. Wind NW to N up to 10 MPH.

FRIDAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 62-69, coolest coast. Wind N to NE up to 10 MPH.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Clear followed by increasing high clouds. Lows 43-50. Wind calm.

SATURDAY: Thickening clouds. Rain potential increases south and west of Boston later in the day. Highs 58-65, coolest coast. Wind SE up to 10 MPH.

SATURDAY NIGHT / SUNDAY: Overcast. Periods of rain and drizzle. Areas of fog. Lows 45-52. Highs 52-59. Wind E to NE 5-15 MPH.

DAYS 6-10 (MAY 25-29)

Expecting low pressure to start pulling away by Memorial Day (May 25) with some partial improvement – less rain, some breaks in the clouds, but on the cool side. Upper level low pressure presents the chance of mainly afternoon showers both May 26 & 27, and a surface low and disturbance may enhance the chance on May 27. Fair weather returns later in the period. Temperatures continue to run on the cooler side through mid period but moderate to seasonable at the end of the period.

DAYS 11-15 (MAY 30 – JUNE 3)

Continued leaning toward a cool, dry pattern to end May and start June with eastern Canadian high pressure the most dominant feature.

118 thoughts on “Wednesday May 20 2026 Forecast (7:05AM)”

  3. Ok, I have got it !

    Going forward, at least in New England, Memorial Day cannot be planned.

    We all get 5 days notice.

    I nominate TK to notify when Memorial Day weekend can happen 5 days in advance.

    What ???

    No, no …… we won’t be able to plan. And, of course, the business world would go nuts.

    Ok, my reply is, how would have Memorial Day weekend worked last weekend and Monday? And then compare that to what is going to happen this weekend and Monday.

    TK, if you don’t want to do that, I’ll work with Pete, Eric and Cindy F and see if they’ll be willing to select the weekend it takes place by committee.

    It could fall anywhere from May 1st to June 30th and if we get a spring where all the weekends stink, we’ll add it to July 4th. 🙂

    Reply

    1. Criteria:

      Must have at least 1 sunny day

      Must have at least 1 day the high temp makes 70F or higher in eastern Mass

      Must have at least 1 day with no easterly wind component.

      Can not have a daytime high temp lower than 60F at Logan. (During the day, not one of those midnight specials, where its 68F at 12:30am, the backdoor comes through and its 53F all day)

      Reply

    1. I AM south of I90 by a couple of miles, does that mean I see a T-storm today? Likely not, but we shall see.

      Reply

    2. Nice job !

      Yes, in theory, it really shouldn’t get to 90F today.

      Cool air advection, the ridge at 500mb is breaking down, earlier cumulus cloud development.

      I think I read TK suggesting 88F and I agree with him ……. that is what it should hit !

      But, I think the big precip deficits and thus, dry ground are going to send Logan to 90F or 91F.

      Reply

  8. Thanks TK

    Honestly my high of near 100 isn’t out of the question. My equipment is in fine shape. I saw a Roxbury reading of 99. I am very close to that side near American legion which is really hot area city wise generally.

    Reply

    1. Your equipment, unless you have changed it, has an accuracy of +/- 2.5 degrees F.

      That is not a very accurate sensor, sorry to say.

      NO way in hell it was 100 anywhere in JP yesterday, sorry.

      Reply

      1. And those radiation shields on ambient equipment are not very good, so if there was any sun at all on your equipment, it would yield a higher reading.

        I had an ambient equipment previously and it was located in the sun and the readings were consistently about 4 degrees too high when the sun was shining on it.

        My equipment now is Davis with accuracy of +/- 0.5 Degrees F.

        Reply

        1. And even that read high, so I had to move it into total shade and lost my wind and rain readings.

          Reply

      2. I hear ya but there was an official 99 in Roxbury from what I saw.

        My temp is generally about 1-2 degrees warmer than what I see but honestly many times it not that off. Maybe time for a new one.

        Reply

  17. My Washington is 52F, still warm, but a few degrees cooler than the middle of the night.

    So, slight cool air advection vs decent sun/dry ground conditions.

    I’m taking the ladder to push Logan to or slightly over 90F.

    Reply

  19. High temps likely today at or before 1pm, as the cool air advection will be slowing increasing with time and also anticipating cumulus cloud development sooner than yesterday and further south.

    Reply

    1. A reasonable assumption, yet the 12z HRRR seems to suppress convection most of the day and only then develops it way to our south, if I am recalling correctly.

      Reply

      1. Yup. We shall see. The Hi-Res models don’t always get it correct. 🙂

        Will continue to monitor that radar.

        BUT, likely convection to the South.

        Reply

  25. We know, due to a cooling column as the day wears on, the high temps will be lower than yesterday.

    Logan, at 84F, is 1F cooler than the same time yesterday.

    Reply

  26. My boys played high school sports so I have visited many soccer and baseball fields and tracks across the South Shore. Tom, I think it was you who mentioned Hull the other day. Hull High School was about the only place that I did not go to.

    I guess Hull High School and its athletics complex are located right at Hull Gut. I have heard crazy stories about games on those fields such as Hull baseball had to put a junior varsity player on the other side of the backstop to keep foul balls from going into the ocean!

    I also heard that, during a football game, a punt went 40 yards behind the punter because he was kicking into a fierce gale! 🙂
    And a soccer goalkeeper scored on his own goal because of the winds! 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hahaha, yes, right on the harbor inlets, with massive tidal currents.

      I believe those wind stories too 🙂

      Reply

  27. Thank you and Happy Birthday, TK!

    As our very brief heat departs, heat will be building throughout parts of Europe, including Northwestern Europe. It’s been quite cool there since I returned to Boston. But that’s about to change this weekend and beyond. Look for some temperature records to be broken from Ireland to Germany, especially next week.

    Reply

  30. Former Congressman Barney Frank died. He had been in hospice in Maine for several months, I believe.

    While he was a controversial figure at times, I believe he had his heart in the right place and was instrumental in passing legislation (including laws with bipartisan support) in several key areas.

    My late father, who was a conservative (a Reagan Republican, if you will), knew Frank. Not well, but enough so that they became acquainted and discussed issued related to NIH research funds and healthcare. He liked Frank and thought of him as a knowledgeable and candid politician.

    Reply

  31. Logan has reported (88F) for times since 11am, (11, 11:05, 11:20 and 11:25)

    So, I’ll assume its high temp is 88F thus far 🙂

    I really think they could hire a person to monitor the whole rounding thing. I find it confusing when you look at the mesonet ob and it says it hit 97F and then the official high temp is 96F. I get the reason why, but its still misleading.

    Reply

    2. Agree totally!!!! That’s why yesterday when I posted that
      Logan tied the ALL-time high tempature for MAY, I ended the post with a caveat, Unless there is a rounding issue. 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Reply

  33. 85 here.
    1st clouds in site.

    I set my o/u at 90. Don’t think I will make that.

    More like 87 or 88. I should have known!!!!!

    We shall see.

    Reply

    1. Couple cells with the cool front itself, but the best instability is further southwest of New England and so, I think, that is why the models ignite the majority of the new stuff way to our southwest ………. as opposed to having these spot cells to our northwest intensify and charge SE.

      Reply

      1. I don’t know. Now better action appears to be North.
        Time will tell.

        No Matter I expect NOT even a single drop of rain here.

        Reply

  40. TK is so good !

    He suggested 88F for Logan today.

    It hasn’t budged off 88F in a while and time is short for further warming.

    Reply

          1. 🙂

            I was out briefly. It actually took me less time to cool my car today. So I agree. Was just teasing. But still VERY warm.

            Reply

  44. 86F where I am.

    I went out briefly and it felt hotter than yesterday. Given that it was 96F yesterday, that feeling `hotter’ comes down to a higher humidity level.

    Very latest guidance on Europe’s weather next week looks quite remarkable. Some 40C plus temps may very well be in the offing. My guess is London maxes out at 31C and Amsterdam at 33C, with the 40C plus readings south and east across the continent. For May, that’s very hot.

    Reply

      1. Yup, I have to switch to Celcius all of July when we are in Canada, both to understand temp and the wonderfully named, humidex.

        Reply

  45. Well, 90F has been reported 9 different times at Logan the last hour or so.

    I’m going to guess the high is officially 90F unless we have had 9 cases of rounding issues.

    Reply

  46. 87.5 here and still climbing. I would have thought that the temperature rise will have stopped by now. I guess not.

    Reply

  50. Im glad I’m missing this weekend up in RI. 88°-92° here in Sarasota for the foreseeable future. Maybe through October. Hopefully we will have some warm weather when I get back June 1.

    Reply

  54. Thank you for the bday wishes!

    Logan’s high will go down as 90 today. Day 3 on the season. That does NOT mean they will land above the average. That remains to be seen. No shots at 90+ in the foreseeable future there.

    Reply

  55. Best I can tell, the front has passed Boston. Wind aroun to the WNW to NW from Boston West. So, Dps and temperatures “should” start to come down pretty soon. There is always a lag but should start to happen.

    dp down to 61 at Logan

    Temp 79 at Orange and 72 at Pittsfield. It will take a bit longer to get that in here, but it is on the way!!!

    Reply

    1. Temporary temp spike as the dew point starts to drop first, then the temp will follow.

      Reply

      1. Yup, I know it is coming.
        Today was much more tolerable compared to yesterday. Some 8 degrees less hot here.

        Reply

  57. I can’t believe what a cold and miserable spring we’re having!

    The temperature for March through May (so far) for Boston is 2.5F ABOVE normal the precipitation deficit for the same period is nearly 4 inches.

    I mean, we can do better, right? 😉

    You don’t have to forgive me for the thick sarcasm here. It’s ok. 🙂

    Reply

  58. 93 was the max.

    Darkening skies to the west from three cells trekking through Rhode Island. Jimmy B, looks like you’ve got a storm in the Dartmouth area.

    Reply

  59. Happy birthday sir.
    94° again down here in Sarasota today.
    Sea breeze storms starting to fade.

    Reply

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