DAYS 1-5 (APRIL 1-5)
Welcome to April! I’m not going to play any jokes on you because Mother Nature will attempt that this week, and for most people it won’t be funny. We actually start out with a day that’s not too bad despite the lack of sun. The shield of clouds covering our sky is from a wave of low pressure passing to our south. While the cloud deck is thick enough to produce some precipitation, most of it will be evaporating before reaching the ground and only a few raindrops may find their way to the surface, but we’ll otherwise be in for a dry day despite the lack of sunshine. We’ll also lack the wind that was active most of the weekend. A weak trough of low pressure will swing across the region today and can produce a few spotty rain showers mainly from southern NH to northeastern MA. We’re entering a lengthy unsettled stretch of weather that spans the entire work week, but peaks in a midweek storm. Tomorrow, an arm of moisture ahead of this system tries to move in under an overcast sky, but again will battle dry air, so I feel that the precipitation shield will again be mostly aloft for the day, with some rain finally making it into eastern CT, RI, and parts of southeastern and south central MA later in the day, with any remains of that precipitation area will cause spotty light rain in the rest of the region at night, but will be fading. It will be early Wednesday when a more substantial precipitation shield arrives. As this storm impacts us during midweek (Wednesday/Thursday), there will be a high pressure area in eastern Canada supplying colder air. But like much of the winter, we find ourselves in a situation where temperatures are marginal between rain and snow, and it will be over inland, higher elevations, and with the aid of intensity, that snow is most likely to fall, with mixing occurring further east, but probably just a mainly rain event closer to the coast and most especially the further south you go. But we’ll have to keep a close eye on this, because a degree or two difference in the lower atmosphere makes a great difference in rain vs. snow for many areas. I do think in whatever form it’s falling the precipitation peaks in intensity Wednesday night. A primary low near the Great Lakes will give way to a secondary in our region, with the position of this low also being instrumental in determining rain vs. snow. During Thursday, the general idea with this system is it will lift far enough north to allow the precipitation to become less widespread and overall somewhat lighter, but a messy variety is still likely to be involved. And the very slow process of seeing this system exit will result in Friday being another unsettled day with clouds dominating and additional showers of precipitation, which may be in one or more forms. This forecast will obviously need to be tweaked in shorter terms as we go through the week.
TODAY: Mostly cloudy. A touch of very light rain possible at times, mainly near the South Coast. Highs 48-55, coolest coast. Wind variable up to 10 MPH, with light coastal sea breezes.
TONIGHT: Mostly cloudy. An evening rain shower possible southern NH and northeastern MA. Lows 35-42. Wind shifting to N up to 10 MPH.
TUESDAY: Cloudy. Late-day rain possible eastern CT, RI, and adjacent areas of southern MA. Highs 42-49, coolest in eastern coastal locations. Wind E up to 10 MPH.
TUESDAY NIGHT: Cloudy. Spotty light rain, may mix with wet snow some interior higher elevations. Lows 35-42. Wind NE up to 10 MPH.
WEDNESDAY: Overcast. Rain/mix/snow likely. Highs 38-45 but may fall slowly during the day. Wind NE-E 10-20 MPH, gusty.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Overcast. Rain, heavy at times, may mix with or turn to sleet/snow at times favoring interior higher elevations. Lows 33-40. Wind E-NE 10-20 MPH inland, 20-30 MPH coast, higher gusts.
THURSDAY: Cloudy. Steady precipitation tapers to rain/snow showers. Highs 38-45, may spike to 45-52 South Coast. Wind variable 5-15 MPH, higher gusts.
THURSDAY NIGHT / FRIDAY: Mainly cloudy with additional rain/snow showers. Temperatures generally steady 38-45. Wind variable becoming N 10-20 MPH with higher gusts.
DAYS 6-10 (APRIL 6-10)
Slow improvement during the April 6-7 weekend, starting unsettled, ending dry as low pressure slowly pulls away. High pressure builds in with fair weather April 8-10. Overall favorable sky conditions expected for solar eclipse viewing on April 8 (partial but greater than 90% coverage for WHW forecast areas while path of totality crosses far northern New England). Temperatures below normal early period, trending milder thereafter.
DAYS 11-15 (APRIL 11-15)
Unsettled weather returns early to mid period with a low pressure trough. High pressure builds in late period with fair weather again. Temperatures near to above normal.