By James M. Arnold,? Weather Specialist
Region – As expected, Tropical Storm Arthur has developed from within the area of disturbed weather off the southeast U.S. coast.? It still looks like he will be a nuisance for Fourth of July celebrations all up and down the east coast in the Thursday to Friday time frame, bringing the potential for “predecessor” rain Thursday into Friday and then Arthur's rain shield should cover at least a portion of southeast New England, with the possibility of strong to storm force winds raking the coastal areas of the outer Cape and the Islands. The exact location of the rain shields and the storm position is nearly impossible to pin down with any certainty from this far out, but it does seem that rain will impact our area from later on Thursday into Friday morning.? I don’t yet know where Arthur's rain shield will set up, and there is the possibility that it may miss central Massachusetts altogether, leaving us with relatively dry conditions later Friday into Saturday.
In the meantime, we can expect the hot and humid conditions to continue through Wednesday, and there is the risk of thunderstorms throughout the period.? Temperatures today and tomorrow will be in the 85 to 92 degree range, cooling with the unsettled weather from Thursday on.? Some of the Wednesday afternoon thunderstorms could become severe, with very heavy rain, strong winds and possible hail.? Our weather will turn fair, breezy and cooler through next weekend and into next week.
Here is a link to the National Weather Service forecast office discussion site:
With the threat of some severe weather on Wednesday and the uncertainty surrounding Tropical Storm Arthur, it would be a good idea to monitor this and other sites for the latest weather information.
I will issue another update around noon tomorrow.
James M. Arnold is a Weather Specialist working with Shrewsbury Emergency Management Agency; town of Princeton; Worcester Emergency Communications and Emergency Management Agency; Southborough Emergency Management Agency; town of Grafton and Wachusett Mountain Ski Area