Spring Springs

Posted by Pete Bouchard

Door closed on the sunshine today. As a result, our highs only flirted with 40 degrees. Meh on that, but the big news of the day is...

...it's spring!

We officially started the 1st day of meteorological spring. Astronomical spring (the part where the sun crosses the equator into our hemisphere) won't start until March 20th. Nonetheless, it's a time to reflect back on a very lopsided winter in Boston:

Dec-Jan

Snowless and mild. Precipitation was above normal in December, but it was our 7th driest January on record

Feb

We hit the wall. Snow hit us hard and the temperatures dropped to almost 2° below normal.

Overall, the winter was above normal by almost 2 degrees, and our precipitation was almost 2" above normal with snowfall almost 10" above normal (10th snowiest in Worcester!).

Suffice it to say the drought we were in from late 2011 to Jan of this year is in full retreat. That's not to say we'll stay wet, but certainly the reservoirs, ponds and lakes are running much higher now. If you want to crunch the numbers yourself, click here.

Onto the weekend. Ready for a...

..lot of clouds? Upper level low pressure system will plague us with lots of gray and a few opportunities for a shower or snowshower. Highs make it to the low 40s each day. Kinda blah, very much early spring-like.

Long range...hmmmm...how do I spin this looming threat for a (massive) nor'easter? Glancing shot? Direct hit? Well, they're all possibilities at this point. Most of the weather models push it off the Mid Atlantic far south of us. Still, I'm leary (no relation to Worcester's native son): very few of these types of storms sail out to sea without a visit to New England. And, as stated in last night's blog, storms of this nature rarely show direct hits 5-7 days in advance. They typically creep into the forecast picture over the course of days. There have been some weather maps in the last 24hrs. that DO show us getting hit, but then they back off again. It's this kind of 'noise' that makes me nervous. There are important milestones ahead, so stay in tune to the weekend forecasts with Chris!!

Make it a good weekend.

Pete

Warming Up and Unsettled

Posted by Chris Lambert

Well, it certainly was a great weekend weather-wise until this afternoon when the temps dropped and light showers moved in from west to east.  Despite the cool down, the theme for this upcoming week is warmer with higher humidity.  It'll also be unsettled at times. 

Pulling The Fade

Posted by Chris Lambert

Our fun in the sun ends this afternoon as morning sunshine fades behind thickening clouds.  As those clouds increase, a few showers break out this afternoon from west to east, with the highest chance for rain late afternoon and this evening.  Most of the showers are light, especially the early afternoon ones, but a heavier shower or two is possible near day's end and early this evening.  Highs reach the mid to upper 60s around noon, then fall back to near 60 mid to late afternoon thanks to scattered showers.  These showers are brought to us by a warm front.

Back and Forth

Posted by Chris Lambert

Quite a few clouds in the sky at times this afternoon, but the atmosphere lacked ample moisture to produce showers, so we made out just fine with temps near 70.  Even the coast made it well into the 60s before the onshore wind knocked temps back.

Pretty Good Weekend Overall

Posted by Chris Lambert

Sure, it's a cool start with many of the suburbs down into the upper 30s and lower 40s, but we'll warm up quickly through the day as that sun helps us out.