Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Boston, MA

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007 FXUS61 KBOX 141108 AFDBOX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA 708 AM EDT Fri Jun 14 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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Warm and muggy today with scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and evening...some of which may be severe mainly northwest of I-95. A few lingering spot showers are possible early Saturday...otherwise high pressure brings dry and beautiful weather for the weekend with low humidity. A warm- up begins on Monday with an extended period of excessive heat and humidity possible beginning Tuesday and continuing through Friday.
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&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/...
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705 AM Update... Key Points * Warm and muggy start to the day * Scattered severe thunderstorms mainly NW of I-95 Previous forecast remains on track. Main concern continues to revolve around the threat for scattered severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening with the main risk northwest of I-95. Timing of the convection remains tricky...but appears we may have two rounds. The first in the noon to 5 pm range on a pre- frontal trough and perhaps a second round as the shortwave approaches early this evening. Prior forecast discusses this all below. Today will be a warm and humid day with temperatures quickly rising into the mid to upper 80s and dew points reaching the mid to upper 60s. This will help set the stage for scattered severe thunderstorms as a potent shortwave trough and cold front drops SE across the region in the afternoon. As the cold front moves through, a very narrow corridor of instability will be set up across western MA and CT. There continues to be some disagreement among the hi-res HREF guidance on how much instability will be available mainly due to timing differences on convective development. HREF mean shows near 1000 J/kg of SBCAPE with the 90th percentile showing around 2000 J/kg. With deep layer shear approaching 30-40 knots, the environment will be supportive of organized clusters of severe thunderstorms. Initiation remains a bit uncertain with some members of the HREF initiating storms shortly after 12pm, while others holding off as late as 4pm. latest 06z guidance is trending towards a faster solution with height falls from the shortwave arriving earlier in afternoon. Storms likely initiate off the high terrain in Western MA/CT and southern VT/NH then move ESE through the afternoon. Storms should quickly weaken as the approach eastern MA and RI as they run into a more stable environment with less instability and shear. The severe threat at this time looks highest north and west of the I-95 corridor as highlighted by the SPC slight risk. Severe threats: The primary severe threat will be strong to damaging winds with steep low level lapse rates, DCAPE values near 700 J/kg, and linear storm mode promoting straight line winds. The hail threat has increased since yesterday due to models steepening mid level lapse rates to 6-7 C/km. The freezing level still remains above 10kft which should help to melt most hail before reaching the surface. The tornado threat remains very low at this time with 0-3km SRH around 100 m/s and the Sig Tor parameter well less then 1.0. Storm mode also appears to favor linear clusters with upscale growth. Not completely out of the question that a discreet supercell could form at initiation before merging with other cells into line segments or clusters. Heavy Rain Threat: Although the storms will be progressive with little to no training expected, PWATS will be increasing into the 1.5-1.6 inches. CAPE profiles have become more fat and supportive of hail over the last 24 hours due to steepening mid level lapse rates. Warm cloud depths have also decreased to 8000ft. Despite these less favorable changes in the environmental parameters, the HREF 3hr PMM does still highlights a small area in western MA and CT with 10% probs for greater then 3 inches of rain in 3 hours. This could lead to areas of street and poor drainage flooding along with isolated instances of flash flooding.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH 6 PM SATURDAY/... Tonight Thunderstorms quickly weaken into showers as they move east into less favorable environment and lose support from daytime heating. The shortwave axis crosses through the region overnight which will prolong the rain for eastern MA before tapering off by morning. Overnight lows stay on the warm side in the low 60s with overcast skies and rain. Tomorrow Shortwave moves offshore with rising heights and high pressure beginning to build in for the weekend. There may be some lingering light showers in the morning in eastern MA, otherwise mainly dry conditions with clearing skies in the afternoon. Winds turn northerly advecting in cooler air for Saturday with highs only in the mid to upper 70s. Humidity will also be noticeably lower with dewpoints dropping into the 50s and even the 40s across the western interior. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... Key Points... * Dry/cool Sat night followed by a beautiful Sunday with low humidity * Warmup begins on Mon with excessive heat & humidity Tue through Fri * Heat & Humidity Peak in the Wed through Fri time frame * Near Record Highs possible...Heat Indices between 95 & 104 at times Details... Saturday night and Sunday.. Large high pressure will build over southern New England Sat night into Sun. A relatively dry airmass in place for mid June standards...coupled with mainly clear skies/light winds will yield a good night of radiational cooling. Overnight lows should bottom out in the 40s across the outlying locations with 50s in the urban centers. Plenty of sunshine on Sunday will allow for a beautiful day along with low humidity. Highs will be well up into the 70s to perhaps near 80 in a few spots. Next Week... Confidence continues to grow in excessive heat and humidity next week. An anomalous upper level ridge will build northward into southern New England next week. A warming trend begins on Monday, but the significant heat/humidity potential looks to begin Tuesday and peak in the Wed through Fri time frame. There has been a strong signal amongst all the model guidance for the last several days. The EPS/NAEFS situational awareness table indicates parameters outside the models climatology which is signal for the potential of a highly anomalous event...in this case heat & humidity. Near record high temperatures will be possible. There are fairly high probs of temps reaching well into the 90s for a couple days and perhaps flirting with 100 degrees in some spots. Afternoon heat indices in the 95 to 104 degree range are possible at times. It will remain quite muggy at night so that will be another concern. Strong upper level ridging in place will promote mainly dry weather for much of next week. That being said...near record heat may trigger the risk of a few t-storms at times but given lack of synoptic scale forcing dry weather will dominate. && .AVIATION /12Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
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Forecast Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Moderate - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. 12z TAF Update... Today: Moderate Confidence VFR with gusty SW winds to start today. Still some uncertainty with how thunderstorms evolve today with some guidance showing activity developing by 16 to 17z over southern VT and NH and moving ESE. The highest confidence in thunderstorms is at the BDL, BAF, and ORH between 17-22z. Further east, still some uncertainty on how well thunderstorms will hold together for BED, BOS, and PVD between 18-23z. FMH, HYA, and ACK should only see rain showers but not out of the question for embedded thunder after 00z. The other issue is a potential second round of showers and t-storms in the 22z to 03z time frame...but will have to see how that unfolds. Tonight: Moderate Confidence Lingering shortwave energy may bring showers and a few embedded t-storms well into the evening and overnight hours...especially across eastern MA. Low clouds and areas of fog may develop across parts of RI/SE MA. Tomorrow: VFR with northerly winds at 10-15 knots. KBOS TAF...Moderate confidence in TAF. VFR with gusty SW winds to start today. Guidance has sped up timing of the thunderstorms now to 19z though 22z. Smaller risk for a second round of thunderstorms after 22z/23z...but this may be more showers with a bit of embedded thunder. KBDL TAF...High confidence in TAF. VFR to start today. Scattered thunderstorms expected this afternoon in the 17z-20z time frame. A second round of scattered showers & t-storms are possible this evening as well. Outlook /Saturday Night through Tuesday/... Saturday Night through Sunday Night: VFR. Monday through Tuesday: VFR. Breezy.
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&& .MARINE... Forecaster Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Medium - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Today: Increasing SW winds gusting up to 25 knots. A cold front will sweep across the waters this evening. Thunderstorms will form along this cold front inland this afternoon and weaken as they approach the waters. A couple storms could still reach the waters and bring strong wind gusts and lightning near the coastal waters this evening. Seas 2-4 feet. Tonight: Steady light to moderate rain with embedded thunder possible. Winds shift WNW and decrease to 5-10 knots overnight. Seas 2-3 feet. Tomorrow: Rain tapers off in the morning with clearing conditions in the afternoon. Winds turn north and gust 15 to 20mph. Seas 2-4 feet. Outlook /Saturday Night through Tuesday/... Saturday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Areas of seas approaching 5 ft. Sunday: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Sunday Night through Tuesday: Winds less than 25 kt. && .CLIMATE...
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Daily Record High Temperatures... Tuesday, June 18th BOS - 94F (1929) BDL - 95F (1994) PVD - 94F (1929) ORH - 93F (1929) Wednesday, June 19th BOS - 96F (1923) BDL - 95F (1995) PVD - 94F (1923) ORH - 93F (1923) Thursday, June 20th BOS - 98F (1953) BDL - 97F (2012) PVD - 95F (1941) ORH - 93F (1953) Last Day of 100F (or greater) BOS - 100F (07/24/2022) BDL - 100F (07/21/2019) PVD - 100F (07/28/2020) ORH - 102F (07/04/1911)
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&& .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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CT...None. MA...None. RI...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 8 PM EDT this evening for ANZ230>237-251. Small Craft Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM EDT this evening for ANZ250-254.
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&& $$ SYNOPSIS...KP/Frank NEAR TERM...Frank/KP SHORT TERM...KP LONG TERM...Frank AVIATION...KP/Frank MARINE...KP/Frank CLIMATE...Dooley