Better Weather Ahead

MON 4/7: It has to get better from here. This kind of weather - temperatures stuck in the 40s, a raw northeast wind, plenty of clouds and periodic mist - is just about the worst weather possible. It's cold and damp, it keeps us indoors, it prolongs the feel of winter and always comes in the early spring season when people are yearning for sunshine and mild temperatures. Such is spring in coastal New England. Thankfully, we're past the worst of this most recent stretch of gloom and better weather lies ahead.

The surface analysis this morning tells the story well. High pressure to our northeast is combining with low pressure pushing away from the Mid-Atlantic to keep an onshore wind going over much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. For Cape Codders, Monday marks day four of raw weather and generally east winds (these gusty east winds, by-the-way, have combined with high astronomical tides to yield tidal levels just shy of flood stage, but high enough to produce some unwanted beach erosion on north and east facing shores). As is often the case, the onshore flow is keeping the chilly and damp but stable marine layer locked in place, fighting and winning the battle against the April sunshine. However, change is in the wind, literally.

The high pressure cell to our northeast is beginning to punch drier air south and westward and the offshore storm is continuing to pull away, slowly taking its cloud cover and moisture with it. As such, clearing skies are settling southward across New England, and should reach the Cape later Monday. Use the Visible Satellite Image to track the progress of the nicer weather. Once the clearing line reaches our area, brighter skies and more tolerable conditions will take hold and should persist through much of the upcoming work week.

High pressure should remain anchored just off the Eastern Seaboard through the week (the coastal low that looked like a small potential threat for mid-week late last week will be shunted well out to sea), and each afternoon we should be able to add a degree or three to our previous day's highs with a good deal of sunshine. Wednesday looks like the pick of the week at the current time. Unfortunately, with that high pressure holding firm, winds will never take on a westerly direction and instead will continue to blow in a light easterly direction through much of the week. As such, here on the coast we will never realize the full potential of what will become a mild air mass over the Northeast. Still...we will take what we can get at this point. Expect readings to approach 50F on Tuesday, and to make the low to mid 50s Wednesday through Friday. If you are headed west - interior Southern New England will head for the 60s later this week.

Our next real storm threat should not materialize until Friday Night or Saturday. We will see a weak system slide through on Thursday, which could increase our cloud cover, but shouldn't produce much, if any, precipitation. Friday and Saturday's storm will be a more formidable one with a better chance of producing widespread showers. In fact, depending upon the storm's ultimate track, another healthy dose of one inch rains are possible. This system will actually make weather headlines over the entire week as it produces a potentially historic severe weather outbreak across the central and eastern U.S. before reaching the Eastern Seaboard this weekend.