70 Degree Temps This Afternoon; Showers/Thunderstorms(Some Strong-Severe) Late Thu Afternoon/Evening

For This Afternoon: A mixture of sunshine and clouds is expected this afternoon with temperatures around 70 Degrees. Winds this afternoon will be south at 7 to 15 mph. Tonight: A warm front is expected to be stalled across the area tonight. At the same time, a weak low pressure system will ride along the front tonight. Skies will become cloudy this evening with scattered showers expected to overspread the region by midnight. This scattered shower activity will continue during the after midnight hours of tonight. Low temperatures tonight will be between 45 and 50 Degrees. Winds tonight will be south at 7 to 15 mph. Thursday & Thursday Night: A frontal boundary is expected to be stalled across eastern and northeastern Mass during the day. The exact position of this front is going to be crucial in determining how warm it may get on Thursday. On the south side of the front, it’s likely to warm up into the 75 to 85 Degree range. On the other hand, on the north side of this front, temperatures will make it into the low to mid 60s. At this point, it looks like the front may end up placing itself across northern Worcester County. This means that all of Western Mass and areas along I-84 and south of the Mass Pike in Central Mass will probably have high temperatures between 76 and 81 Degrees. Across areas near and north of the Mass Pike in Central Mass, high temperatures Thursday will be near 70 Degrees. As for areas along and north of Route 2 in Central Mass, high temperatures Thursday will be between 60 and 65 Degrees. It should be noted that the I-91 corridor from Springfield to Hartford may see high temperatures of 80 to 85 Degrees on Thursday. Any leftover scattered showers are expected to come to an end by about 8 am Thursday morning with dry weather expected from mid-morning through the early to mid-afternoon hours. A cold front will approach the region from the west by late Thursday afternoon. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to move into Western Mass by about 4-5 pm Thursday afternoon with this shower and thunderstorm moving into Central Mass by about 6 pm Thursday. The shower and thunderstorm activity is then expected to continue into Thursday evening before ending by about 10-11 pm. A combination of some unstable air, forcing from the cold front and strong low-level wind shear could lead to a few of the thunderstorms to be strong to even severe with wind gusts of up to 45 to 60 mph. The greatest time frame for this to occur is from 4 pm to 7 pm across Western Mass and from 5-6 pm to 8-9 pm across Central Mass. That cold front will push off to the east by after midnight Thursday night with clearing skies expected and low temperatures near 45 Degrees. Friday: An area of high pressure pushes into the area for Friday with sunny to partly sunny skies expected. High temperatures Friday will be between 65 and 70 Degrees. Winds on Friday will be northwest at 8 to 16 mph. This Weekend: Another frontal system will approach the area by Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening. A mixture of sunshine and clouds is expected during the day on Saturday and there’s expected to be scattered showers during the late afternoon and evening hours. High temperatures Saturday will be between 60 and 65 Degrees. Colder air will work into the area on Easter Sunday on a gusty northwest wind. Skies on Sunday will feature a mixture of sunshine and clouds and there will probably be some scattered rain shower activity. High temperatures Sunday will be near 50 Degrees. Next Week: A colder air mass is expected to set up for next week with below average temperatures expected. Monday is expected to be partly sunny with high temperatures near 50 Degrees. An area of low pressure is expected to cross the region on Monday night and Tuesday. While it appears that rain should be the main precipitation type throughout Monday night and Tuesday, I have concerns that snow could fall in the Berkshires and across the northern Worcester Hills, especially between midnight Monday night and mid-morning Tuesday. This is something that will be watched closely. Low temperatures Monday night will be near 35 Degrees, except near 30 Degrees in the northern Worcester Hills and the Berkshires. High temperatures Tuesday will be between 45 and 50 Degrees. Sunshine returns for Wednesday of next week. High temperatures on Wednesday will be near 55 Degrees. A frontal boundary will move through the area next Thursday bringing with it scattered rain shower activity. High temperatures Thursday will be between 55 and 60 Degrees. A mixture of sunshine and clouds is expected next Friday along with some isolated rain showers. High temperatures next Friday will be between 50 and 55 Degrees.