Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Boston, MA

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370 FXUS61 KBOX 171724 AFDBOX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA 124 PM EDT Mon Jun 17 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Increasing temperatures and humidity today along with gusty south winds. Dangerous heat and humidity arrives on Tuesday and peaks in the Wednesday through Friday time frame. Near to record breaking high temperatures are possible with afternoon Heat Indices between 98 and 106 degrees away from the immediate south coast. The main threat for scattered showers and thunderstorms will be Friday into the weekend...but specific timing remains uncertain. We do expect the excessive heat to break this weekend, but it will remain humid. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/... 945 AM update... No changes to previous forecast. Area of low clouds in the CT valley will be lifting to strato-cu with sct-bkn diurnal clouds developing across SNE through the afternoon. Soundings show marginal instability developing across western MA but presence of a cap and minimal to no large scale forcing will prevent any convection this afternoon. Previous discussion... Upper level ridge continues to build over the region with high pressure still overhead. 850mb temps will be on the rise to +15C ahead of the dangerous heat and humidity expected starting Tuesday. Winds at the surface will also continue to increase out of the south at 10 to 15 mph, gusting 20-25 mph. This will bring high temperatures back up into the low to mid 80s with dewpoints in the low 60s. Winds should be strong enough to keep sea breezes at bay except near the south coast where southerly winds will enhance the sea breeze and bring cooler daytime temps in the upper 70s to southern RI and SE MA. && .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 6 PM TUESDAY/... Tonight: Center of the 595 dm ridge arrives overnight. Dewpoints will continue to rise overnight with southerly flow. Even with mainly clear skies and decreasing winds, overnight lows will only drop into the mid 60s region wide. Tomorrow: Dangerous heat and humidity arrives Tuesday as temperatures rise into the low to mid 90s. With dewpoints rising near 70F, the heat index will rise into the upper 90s to low 100s. Due to this, a heat advisory or excessive heat watch have been issued for much of SNE. The South coast along with the Cape and Islands were left out due to southerly flow bringing cooler temperatures off the ocean. The WPC experimental heat risk tool highlights much of SNE in a moderate risk for heat related impacts. What this means is that those who are sensitive to heat, or without effective cooling systems could be at risk. If you do have to spend time outdoors starting Tuesday, remember to stay hydrated and take breaks in shaded areas or indoors with air conditioning. With large amounts of heat, comes large amounts of instability. HREF mean SBCAPE values are above 1000 J/kg on Tuesday, However, an 875mb warm nose will make it difficult for convection to break the CAP. With almost zero shear and very dry upper levels, any convection that does fire will have a difficult time maintaining itself. Most of the Hi-res guidance is in agreement with this showing weak showers with the exception of the NSSL WRF which seems a bit bullish on convective coverage and intensity. Did add slight chance POPs to interior NW MA to match the HREF 4hr max updraft probs at 10%. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... Key Points... * Dangerous Heat & Humidity continues through Fri * Near Record Highs with Heat Indices from 98 to 106 degrees * Main threat for scattered showers/t-storms Fri into the Weekend * Excessive Heat breaks this weekend...but it still will be humid Details... As has been the case for several days...the models continue to be in excellent agreement that the heat and humidity will peak in the Wed through Fri time frame. The guidance indicates 500 mb height fields approaching 600 dm...which is rarely seen in our region and a strong signal for the potential of record heat. This is also supported by the NAEFS & EPS Situational Awareness tables...which indicates several parameters outside the models climatology. The guidance supports near record highs well into the 90s...perhaps touching 100 degrees in spots. Record highs will be challenged and we may approach all time record highs for the month of June. Regardless...afternoon heat indices are likely to be in the ballpark of between 98 and 106 degrees away from the immediate south coast, Cape and Islands. We opted to continue the Excessive Heat Watch through Fri for the lower elevations of western MA/CT as well as interior east/northeast MA. This is where the greatest risk is for Heat Indices to reach or just exceed 105 degrees. Across the rest of the region...opted to issue a Heat Advisory away from the marine modified airmass near the immediate south coast, Cape and Islands. There will not be much relief overnight with heat indices only dropping into the 70s. The strong upper level ridge will tend to result in mainly dry weather Wed & Thu...but can not rule out an isolated convective threat given the anomalous airmass in place. The main threat though for scattered showers/t-storms will be Fri and into the weekend as the upper level ridge begins to get suppressed south. This will allow shortwave energy to impact us at times on west to northwest flow aloft. Timing is difficult at this point...but scattered showers & t-storms will be possible Fri into the weekend. As the upper level ridge is suppressed to our south...we do expect the excessive heat to break but it still will be humid. && .AVIATION /17Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
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Forecast Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Moderate - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. 18z TAF Update... Through Tonight...High confidence. VFR. SW wind 5-10 mph. Tuesday...High confidence. VFR. Low risk for an isolated afternoon shower or t-storm across NW MA. SW wind 10-20 kt. Tuesday night...High confidence. VFR. S-SW wind 5-10 kt. KBOS TAF...High confidence in TAF. KBDL TAF...High confidence in TAF. Outlook /Tuesday Night through Friday/... Juneteenth: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Breezy. Slight chance SHRA, slight chance TSRA. Wednesday Night: VFR. Breezy. Thursday: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Breezy. Slight chance SHRA, slight chance TSRA. Thursday Night: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Breezy. Friday: Mainly VFR, with areas MVFR possible. Chance SHRA, chance TSRA.
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&& .MARINE... Forecaster Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Medium - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Today: Continued clear conditions with increasing southerly winds at 10-15 knots, gusting up to 25 knots across the near shore waters along the south coast. Opted to hoist a short-fused small craft advisory for these waters and seas may be choppy. Seas 2-4 ft Tonight: Clear conditions with slowly decreasing southwest winds 10-15 kts. Seas 2-4 ft. Tomorrow: Clear conditions with increasing southerly winds gusting 20-25 knots once again. Seas 2-4 ft Outlook /Tuesday Night through Friday/... Tuesday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Juneteenth: Winds less than 25 kt. Wednesday Night through Thursday: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Thursday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Slight chance of rain showers, slight chance of thunderstorms. Friday: Winds less than 25 kt. Chance of rain showers, chance of thunderstorms. && .CLIMATE... All Time June High Temperature Record (Daily) BOS - 100 F (06/06/1925, 06/26/1952 and 06/30/2021) BDL - 100 F (06/26/1952, 06/30/1964) PVD - 98 F (06/25/1943, 06/15/1945 and 06/30/1945) ORH - 98 F (06/26/1952) Most recent day of 100 F (or greater) BOS - 100 F (07/24/2022) BDL - 100 F (07/21/2019) PVD - 100 F (07/28/2020) ORH - 102 F (07/04/1911)* * For ORH this is the only 100+ degree day in its period of record. Daily High Temperature Records... June 18th BOS - 94 F (1907 and 1929) BDL - 95 F (1957 and 1994) PVD - 94 F (1929) ORH - 93 F (1907 and 1929) June 19th BOS - 96 F (1923) BDL - 95 F (1995) PVD - 94 F (1923) ORH - 93 F (1923) June 20th BOS - 98 F (1953) BDL - 97 F (2012) PVD - 95 F (1941) ORH - 93 F (1953) June 21st BOS - 96 F (2012) BDL - 96 F (1953 and 2012) PVD - 96 F (1941) ORH - 91 F (Multi-Years) Daily Warmest Low Temperatures Records... June 18th BOS - 72 F (1929) BDL - 70 F (1905) PVD - 72 F (1929) ORH - 69 F (1905 and 1994) June 19th BOS - 73 F (1995) BDL - 72 F (1929) PVD - 70 F (1995) ORH - 72 F (1929) June 20th BOS - 78 F (1931) BDL - 74 F (1931) PVD - 74 F (1931) ORH - 72 F (1931) June 21st BOS - 80 F (2012) BDL - 73 F (1923 and 2012) PVD - 75 F (2012) ORH - 74 F (1923 and 2012) && .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...Excessive Heat Watch from Tuesday afternoon through Friday evening for CTZ002-003. Heat Advisory from noon Tuesday to 7 PM EDT Friday for CTZ004. MA...Excessive Heat Watch from Tuesday afternoon through Friday evening for MAZ003-005-006-010-011-013-014. Heat Advisory from noon Tuesday to 7 PM EDT Friday for MAZ002- 004-007>009-012-015>019-026. RI...Heat Advisory from noon Tuesday to 7 PM EDT Friday for RIZ001>005. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for ANZ231>236-250-251-254-255. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Frank/KP NEAR TERM...KJC/KP SHORT TERM...KP LONG TERM...Frank AVIATION...KJC/Frank MARINE...Frank/KP CLIMATE...BL