Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Boston, MA

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110 FXUS61 KBOX 022333 AFDBOX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA 733 PM EDT Wed Jul 2 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Dry and pleasant weather is in store for the region tonight outside of an evening spot shower or two south of I-90. Very warm to hot temperatures on Thursday will likely trigger a round of scattered showers & t-storm roughly in the 2-10 PM time range. Quiet for Independence Day heading into the weekend, then heat and humidity kick up for Sunday and the start of next week. Unsettled weather may make a return Tuesday into Wednesday. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM THURSDAY MORNING/... Key Messages... * Low clouds and fog formation confined to mainly immediate south coast, Cape and Islands tonight * Dry and pleasant tonight outside of a spot shower or two early this evening south of I-90 with lows between 60 and 70 degrees Details... Tonight... Enough diurnal heating and low level moisture remains for a few spot showers possible into the first half of the evening...but most locations will remain dry. Otherwise...shortwave energy will continue to move east and further away from the region tonight. This will take a lot of the remaining mid level cloud deck with it. The only issue for tonight is for the re- development of more low clouds and fog near the immediate south coast, Cape and Islands. The surface low level flow is veered out...so thinking this low cloud/fog threat will not make it much further north than the immediate south coast and therefore only impact a very limited area in our CWA. Overnight low temps may range from near 60 in the normally coolest outlying locations to around 70 in the Urban Heat Island of Boston. So most locations will see overnight lows bottom out in the 60s. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... Key Messages... * Very warm to hot on Thu with highs mainly in the upper 80s to near 90 but not as humid as the last few days * A few severe thunderstorms possible Thu between 2 & 10 pm with the greatest risk across interior MA & CT * Drier & cooler later Thu night with lows in the 55-65 degree range Details... Thursday and Thursday night... A very warm to hot day is on tap for Thursday ahead of an approaching shortwave trough. Veered out low level flow and plenty of sunshine will allow dewpoints to mix out a bit and allow highs to reach the upper 80s to near 90 in many locations. Westerly flow though will result in less humidity than the past couple of days...but it still will be very warm to hot afternoon. The main concern though revolves around the potential for a few severe thunderstorms Thu PM...mainly in the 2-10 pm time frame with the best chance across interior MA & CT closer to the main shortwave/dynamics. A fairly impressive shortwave trough aloft approaches the region Thu afternoon/evening with height falls and a 500T dropping into the -12C/-13C range. This cold pool aloft will assist in creating modest mid level lapse rates on the order of 6.5 C/KM. Instability will not be crazy on Thu...but given the cold pool aloft surface Capes in the 750 to 1500 J/KG range are expected. In addition...0-6 KM shear values on the order of 30 to 40 knots with the strongest of those wind fields across interior MA and CT. This ingredients above are supportive for the potential for a few severe thunderstorms Thu afternoon into the first half of the evening with the greatest risk across interior MA and CT. Main threats will be locally damaging wind gusts given the potential for rather large T/Td spreads and steep low level lapse rates. In addition...hail will also be a concern given the cold pool aloft and adequate shear. This is also supported by a lot of the machine learning guidance including the CSU, Nadocast and HRRR Neural network which also show the greatest risk for this across interior MA and CT. That being said...there are some limiting factors too. The instability is rather marginal and surface winds are veered out which will limit potential convergence. This might be why a lot of the CAMs limit the areal coverage of the activity. So in a nutshell...while this does not look like a widespread severe weather outbreak given limited low level convergence the risk for a few severe thunderstorms exists. Interior MA and CT may have the greatest risk being closer to the dynamics/cold pool aloft and that is also indicated with the machine learning guidance. The activity should wind down by the second half of Thu evening as the instability wanes with the loss of diurnal heating. Otherwise...a drier WNW flow of air works into the region Thu night behind the cold front. Overnight lows should drop into the middle to upper 50s in the outlying locations to between 60 and 65 in the urban centers. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Key Messages: * Dry and sunny for Independence Day heading into the weekend * Summer heat and humidity Sunday into the start of next week * Possibly unsettled weather returns Tuesday/Wednesday Details... The trough responsible for Thursday`s expected unsettled conditions moves over New England and off to the east Friday. Temperatures aloft will be slightly cooler as this trough makes its exit, remaining under 20C at 925 mb. Highs for Friday are expected to be in the low to mid 80s across southern New England. Quiet weather will prevail for Independence Day heading into the weekend as surface high pressure builds in. Drier air also moves in over the region, which will bring a warm and less humid start to the weekend. More humid conditions move in going into Sunday and the start of the week as flow aloft shifts more SW and winds at the surface become more S. Temperatures at 925 mb increase to around +25C during the afternoons of Sunday and Monday; ensembles have probabilities at or above 50 percent of temperatures greater than 90F across eastern MA into RI Sunday, then across all of southern New England Monday (probs also increase then as well compared to Sunday). Not much relief can be expected overnight either, with lows in the upper 60s and low 70s. The chance for some unsettled weather returns Tuesday into Wednesday with the arrival of a frontal system. It`s a bit far out to determine the finer details of what to expect in terms of showers or storms, but ensemble mean PWAT values approaching 2" may signal the chance for possible downpours over the region. Whether these may be widespread or isolated is still unknown. && .AVIATION /00Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
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Forecaster Confidence Levels... Low - less than 30 percent. Moderate - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. 00z TAF Update... No significant changes from the previous forecast. Tonight...High confidence. VFR conditions should persist tonight except near the immediate south coast, Cape, and Islands where some IFR-LIFR conditions in low clouds and fog may re-develop with the cooling boundary layer. However...SW flow should confine this risk to the very immediate south coast. Light SW winds. Thursday and Thursday night...High confidence, except moderate confidence on thunderstorm potential areal coverage as well as timing. VFR conditions should dominate Thu into Thu night outside of any scattered t-storm threats after 18z into the first half of the evening. Areal coverage and timing remains uncertain with this activity...but a few strong t-storms are possible which may contain locally strong wind gusts and hail too. That being said...this activity will likely be more hit or miss type of stuff with the greatest risk across interior MA and CT. W winds generally 5-10 knots becoming more NW later Thu night. KBOS Terminal...High confidence in TAF. Main concern is the risk for a t-storm in the vicinity of the terminal Thu after 19z/20z into the early evening hours. KBDL Terminal...High confidence in TAF. Main concern is the risk for a t-storm in the vicinity of the terminal Thu after 18z/19z into the early evening hours. Outlook /Friday through Monday/... Independence Day through Saturday Night: VFR. Sunday through Sunday Night: VFR. Breezy. Monday: Breezy.
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&& .MARINE... Forecaster Confidence Levels... Low - less than 30 percent. Medium - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Tonight through Thursday night...High confidence. Lingering marginal 5 foot seas across our far southern waters will drop below criteria by early evening. Otherwise...the pressure gradient will be weak enough to keep winds/seas below small craft advisory thresholds through Thu night. The main concern for mariners will be areas of fog redeveloping mainly across our southern waters...which may become locally dense later tonight into early Thu morning. Winds will generally be in SW direction on the order of 7-15 knots tonight and Thu before switching too a more NW direction Thu night behind the cold front. Outlook /Friday through Monday/... Independence Day through Saturday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Sunday: Low risk for Small Craft Advisory winds with gusts up to 30 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Sunday Night: Low risk for Small Craft Advisory winds with gusts up to 30 kt. Seas up to 5 ft. Monday: Low risk for Small Craft Advisory winds with gusts up to 30 kt. Areas of seas approaching 5 ft. && .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. MA...None. RI...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for ANZ255- 256. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Frank/Hrencecin NEAR TERM...Frank SHORT TERM...Frank LONG TERM...Hrencecin AVIATION...Frank/Hrencecin MARINE...Frank/Hrencecin