A Few Strong To Severe Thunderstorms Are Possible This Evening Across Western & Central Mass

A hot and humid day is expected across Western and Central Mass. In addition, expect some high clouds at times today leading to a generally partly sunny day through about 4-5 pm today. It looks like there is likely to be a later arrival of thunderstorm activity than what was previously thought – more on that in a second. This means that much of the day today will be dry across the entire area. High temperatures this afternoon will be around 90 Degrees with humid conditions. Southwest winds will gust up to 30 mph at times throughout the day today. A Few Strong To Severe Thunderstorms Are Possible This Evening: It appears that thunderstorms, some of which may be strong to severe, will enter the Berkshires by about 6-7 pm and then quickly push into the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass and the western Worcester Hills during the 7 pm hour before moving into the rest of Worcester County by 8 pm this evening. Thunderstorm activity is then expected to continue until about 10-11 pm this evening before ending. The timing of the thunderstorms is a bit delayed as what was thought yesterday and thus the severe weather threat may be a little lower than what was previously forecast. The atmosphere by late this afternoon and this evening is expected to be unstable enough to support thunderstorms, however, this instability is likely to decrease after about 7 pm this evening due to gradual loss of heating. The amount of low-level wind shear is expected to be strong enough to support at least some strong to severe storms with a couple of storms potentially rotating. All-in-all, I am not expected a widespread or major severe weather event and instead I think that a few strong to severe thunderstorms are possible, especially across Western Mass. Strong wind gusts will be the main threat, however, I think that we will need to monitor any storms that move into the Pioneer Valley where turning in the low level winds may be enhanced leading to the low risk for a possible tornado or two. In Summary, A few strong to severe thunderstorms are possible across Western Mass between 6 pm and 10 pm this evening with strong wind gusts the main threat. A tornado or two is a low possibility in the Pioneer Valley. Across Central Mass, the possibility is there for a strong thunderstorm or two between 7 pm and 11 pm this evening, although the severe weather threat is a bit less as compared to Western Mass. With that said, any strong thunderstorms will be capable of producing strong wind gusts.