- Summer Saturday in Tri-State!
- Winter Back in New England !
- Partial Solar Eclipse
- Stormy and Cooler into April
Good morning, atmospheric audience. On the road this morning, but I wanted to update you on the wild weekend weather across the Northeast. As I alluded to in my Tuesday post, it’s certainly a tale of 2 seasons: winter conditions up north and mercury magic down south across the Tri-state! I’ll also provide a bit more insight on the week ahead, a hint on next month (April chill brings May thrill), QuakeReMarks update (a massive 7.7 quake hit overnight in Myanmar), and SolarReMarks event (partial eclipse on Saturday morning). Let’s hit the easy forecast first.
Tri-State Spectacular: Summer like Saturday!
After some showers pass through late tonight, get ready for a true taste of summer on Saturday! What a spectacular day as parks, beaches (albeit a tad cooler), and outdoor restaurants will be jammed. Under mostly sunny skies, the mercury will spike into the mid to upper 70s (possibly 80°F in spots well inland and DC)! Add in a pleasant breeze out of the SSW with low humidity for good measure. It’s one-hit wonder though, as winds will rotate out of the east, dropping temps into the low 50s for a cloudy Sunday.
New England: Back to Winter!
Polar opposite from our friends down south, winter is indeed back! Temps will be stuck in the low to mid-30s all weekend with a smorgasbord of winter elements. With the exception of the 3 southernmost counties in New Hampshire ( Cheshire, Hillsborough, and Rockingham), the rest of the state, plus ME (ex-coast), is under Winter Storm Watch.
For central and northern New Hampshire, snow moves in overnight tonight into the mid-late morning hours. Accumulations range from 6-12″. Precip tapers off midday before changing to sleet and freezing rain late in the day and right into Sunday. Roads will be treacherous later Saturday and Sunday morning with numerous accidents expected. Power outages can’t be ruled out either. It looks like all precip tapers off Sunday afternoon for those traveling back home from their last days of skiing (although I can’t rule out a storm or 2 left before old man winter hibernates for the season).
For southern and Seacoast area of NH, current modeling depicts rain and heavy sleet beginning before daybreak Saturday into mid-morning hours before tapering off late morning. This lull looks to last until late afternoon before sleet and freezing rain intensifies into the evening hours. That said, I can’t rule out freezing rain will fall off and on throughout the day so take it easy on the roads. For those traveling north, just some light showers in Mass so no big deal.
QuakeReMarks Update
Overnight a powerful 7.7 shallow earthquake hit in Southeast Asia centered in Myanmar, just west of Mandalay. Significant damage occurred. A skyscraper under construction in Bangkok, not near the epicenter, collapsed. While the area was not on my radar, it certainly does come under the increased global activity given the current largest coronal hole on the Sun since 2011 (the year of the massive 9.1 quake in Japan). These holes create hyper-speed solar wind streams impacting our atmosphere, aurora-wise, plus play a part in increased earthquake activity. Aftershocks in the region will continue to be felt for days and weeks. No change to my forecasted areas mentioned in my previous posts.
Keeping an eye on Mt. Spurr near Anchorage, Alaska. An active volcano which may erupt shortly, could have an impact on weather.
SolarReMarks Update
While nothing like what we experienced last year, a partial solar eclipse will be visible in the Northeast Saturday morning. As of now, the Tri-State area should have partial clear skies to see it, but New England is out of luck unfortunately. Obviously, you must wear eye protection for viewing. See times below:
Week and Month Ahead
Looks like we are in an active storm pattern, which is typical this time of year, especially with sharp temperature gradients. Sunday’s strong system, centered over a wide region from the Ohio Valley to TN and south to MS/AL, will travel east, driving heavy windswept rain for Monday night into Tuesday for the Northeast. Ahead of that front, look for temps during the day on Monday to jump in the mid to upper 60s in New England, and near 70°F across the tristate. You’ll notice that warm and humid airmass from the SW. A brief cool down mid-week before temps warm up later in the week before our next storm system arrives Thursday/Friday. Looking out to the 2nd and possibly 3rd week of April, lovers of warmth won’t be happy as Spring is delayed, unfortunately, but not denied (I’m forecasting a spike in May). See below week 2 temperature anomaly (blue is cool).
That’s it for now. For my tristate followers, enjoy tomorrow’s taste of summer. For my New England folks, especially across central to Northern VT, NH, and ME, sleet and ice are a bad combo if traveling. Take extra care if need be. Enjoy the March madness, be it on the court, the diamond, the rink, and below or above the atmosphere because weather never sleeps!
Excellent post! Chock full of fascinating analysis and helpful ReMarks. As always, thank you!
Thanks Maria!