Hello everyone!

As far as summertime goes, today will feature some fairly active weather as a cold front approaches from the north. We’ll deal with oppressive heat and humidity for much of the first half of the day, before strong to potentially severe thunderstorms develop later in the afternoon. Because of the active weather, this blog entry might be a little longer than usual, but I’ll try to stick to just the info you need to know.

A warm front is crossing the area this morning, and some showers are being observed ahead of it, mostly in northeastern areas. A couple of thunderstorm cells are noted along the front this morning, crossing the NH/ME border north of Bethel as of 6:50 AM. These cells are moving towards Augusta, and will bring a brief period of heavy rain and thunder to areas between Bethel and Augusta, such as Rumford.

Behind the warm front, west-southwesterly winds will develop and strengthen this morning. Near the coast, the influence of the cool Gulf of Maine will bend these winds to a more southwesterly direction, which will offer relief from the heat for Midcoast areas especially. For the rest of the area, especially SW of a Brunswick – Lewiston – Bethel line, those WSW winds will be downsloping off the hills of Southern NH. This downsloping will help to mix very warm temps down from aloft, and will also contribute to developing patchy sunshine. The result will be temps soaring into the low-mid 90’s in the favored SW warm spots, while areas farther north and east see highs in the low to mid 80’s. Meanwhile, these winds will also be transporting very moist air in our direction, and dew points will rise accordingly. The mugginess combined with the high temperatures will result in heat indexes approaching or exceeding 100 degrees. Heat advisories have been issued as a result for southwestern areas.

This heat will help fuel thunderstorm activity once the cold front begins to approach this afternoon. Look for storms to develop in two waves, one along a pre-frontal trough, and one along the front itself. The pre-frontal storms will get going in the mountains early this afternoon, before moving southeast towards the coast. Storms along the front itself won’t arrive in the mountains until early this evening, before moving towards the coast around sundown. Storms will pose primarily a damaging wind threat in terms of severe weather, while flash flooding and frequent lightning will be dangerous with any storms, even non-severe ones.

Storms will weaken after dark, and skies will clear from north to south by tomorrow morning.

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-Jack

Hello everyone!

The warming trend begun yesterday will continue today for areas away from the coastline. Winds will have more of an onshore component today, which will keep temperatures a bit cooler. Inland, look for highs ranging through the 80’s with some low 90’s possible in the typical SW ME/NH warm spots. Along the coast, temps will initially rise into the low 70’s this morning before the sea breeze kicks in and temps fall back down into the 60’s. Skies will be mainly sunny across the area with just a few high clouds here and there. A late day pop up shower is possible in the mountains, but otherwise dry conditions will continue.

-Jack

Hello everyone!

After a pleasantly cool start to the summer season, we’ll begin to see a temporary reversal of fortunes today as warm air begins moving in from the west. Look for northwesterly breezes to keep any marine circulations limited to the peninsulas of the midcoast, while the rest of the coastal plain can get in on the warmth. Highs will rise into the 80’s for all but the northern mountains, and some parts of southern NH could approach 90. Temps in the mountains will be slightly cooler, in the high 70’s. Mainly sunny skies are expected to continue through the day today.

-Jack

Hello everyone!

Low pressure sits off to our east this morning, which typically would signal clearing skies and improving weather. However, that low has a small appendage on its western side that’s dragging its feet on its way out this morning. This appendage is located over SW NH this morning, and as a result, it will be southwestern areas that will see the greatest impacts from this feature. Clouds and showers are ongoing across much of NH this morning, and will be slow to clear out during the rest of the day today. Meanwhile to the northeast, skies have already cleared in Augusta where a beautiful early Summer day is in store.

Highs today will be a function of hours with sunshine. Those that see sun most or all of the day (NE areas) will enjoy temps in the low 70’s. Those that see only a couple sunny breaks this evening, if that (Southern NH) will see temps in the mid 60’s. Areas in between will see varying amounts of sunshine this afternoon, and thus will have temps varying accordingly, but most should come in within a few degrees of 70.

Looking ahead, a big warmup is in store beginning this weekend, culminating on Monday with highs spiking into the 90’s accompanied by oppressive humidity.

-Jack

Hello everyone!

Today will feature a sunny start for most of the area, which unfortunately won’t last through the rest of the day. A warm front is moving through New York this morning, and its clouds will spread across the area from west to east midday today. A few showers are also possible along this boundary as it moves through later this afternoon. Following the warm front will be a cold front, set to arrive during the overnight hours. This front will spark severe thunderstorms to our west, which will be decaying as they approach our area. The CT river valley in western NH, and the mountains of NW ME stand the best chance at seeing locally heavy rain and rumbles of thunder from these storms. A brief period of showers is about all the rest of us can expect late tonight, before clearing tomorrow morning.

Temperatures will be warm today, due to both the morning sunshine and the afternoon transport of warmer air behind the warm front. Look for temps ranging through the 70’s across most of the area, with a few 80’s in central inland areas.

-Jack

Hello everyone!

The Canadian high pressure center that has brought us cool and calm weather for the past several days has moved off to our south this morning. Clockwise flow around this high will result in westerly winds across the area today, which will help boost temps above what they have been over the past few days. Look for highs ranging from 70 in the north to 80 on the coastal plain south of Portland. Westerly breezes will keep the sea breeze at bay for all but the Midcoast today, where a developing southerly component to the wind will keep temps a bit cooler. Skies will be mainly sunny, though warm air advection setups like today’s tend to bring about a few high clouds here and there.

-Jack

Hello everyone!

More beautiful early summer weather is on tap today as Canadian high pressure retains control of the area. With the exception of a few clouds along the Southern NH coastline, skies are sunny this morning. This trend will continue through the afternoon. Temperatures will be pleasantly cool as light northerly breezes bring air in from Canada. Look for highs generally ranging through the low to mid 60’s, with some higher temps possible NE of Augusta.

Enjoy the fantastic weather!

-Jack

Hello everyone!

Today will feature a continuation of our recent stretch of beautiful early summer weather as high pressure remains anchored overhead. Skies will be sunny for the majority of the area, and those who do see some clouds in SW NH will only see sunshine slightly filtered by high cirrus. Temps will warm quickly into the low to mid 70’s for most of the area, with slightly cooler temps in the mountains. Temps will also be cooler along the coastline where a sea breeze will develop and sweep inland this afternoon/evening.

-Jack

Hello everyone!

A cold front is drifting off the coast this morning, and northwesterly breezes behind the front will bring widespread sunshine and warm temps for the rest of the day today. Most areas are sunny this morning, with just a few lingering clouds along the front in the Midcoast. Sunshine will expand east as the front moves offshore. Northwesterly breezes behind the front will keep any sea breeze circulation at bay, resulting in warm temps extending all the way to the coastline. Highs will range from the mid 60’s in the mountains to the mid 70’s along the coast.

-Jack

Hello everyone!

Our weather today will once again be influenced primarily by an upper level low pressure system that is slowly moving to our north. The result will be cool temps, plenty of cloudiness, and continued shower chances. That being said, yesterday’s steady soaking rains are not expected to continue today.

Most areas will remain socked in with overcast today, the one exception to that being southern NH where breaks of sun are already developing this morning. Those sunny breaks will help boost temps in that area, which will also create some instability as cold air moves in aloft. This instability will fuel scattered showers this afternoon, one or two of which could produce a rumble of thunder and some very small hail. Showers will quickly weaken/dissipate as they move east into stable air over Maine this evening. High temps in Southern NH will make it up into the mid 60’s.

Farther north and east, look for cloud cover to continue today with areas of drizzle along the coast. Some showers are possible, but no organized areas of steady/heavy rain are expected. The exception to this may be the northwestern mountains, which could see more rain this afternoon as the aforementioned upper level low drifts closer. Temps will be cooler due to the cloud cover, only making it a few degrees above 50 for areas SW of Augusta while areas NE of Augusta could fall short of the 50 degree mark entirely.

-Jack