Hot & Humid Weather Today Along With The Potential For A Few Severe Thunderstorms Later This Afternoon Into This Evening Across Western & Central Mass

It still looks like today will be the hottest and most humid day so far this year across the entire area. The combination of 90 to 95 Degree high temperatures and very humid conditions will lead to heat index readings of 99 to 104 Degrees. I am also expecting to see scattered thunderstorms to break out as soon as mid-afternoon or so across Western Mass. These thunderstorms should then push eastward into Central Mass by late afternoon and early evening. Some of these thunderstorms are expected to become severe given the hot and very humid air mass that will be in place.

Hot & Humid Conditions Expected Today: Once the low clouds and fog completely dissipates by 10 am or so, we will be left with hazy sunshine that will cause temperatures to rocket to between 90 and 95 Degrees by this afternoon. It will also be very humid with dew point temperatures of between 70 and 75 Degrees. The combination of the heat and humidity will lead to heat index readings of 99 to 104 Degrees this afternoon.

If you have to be outdoors today, I strongly encourage you to take frequent breaks in either shaded or air conditioned areas & drink lots of fluids (water, Gatorade, etc.). Also, make sure you check on anyone you know that are sensitive to heat.

Severe Thunderstorm Potential For Later This Afternoon Into This Evening: The hot and humid conditions will produce a quite unstable atmosphere & one that’s favorable for the production of strong to severe thunderstorms. In addition, a strong low pressure system will be lifting northeastward into southern Quebec province during this afternoon and evening. This low pressure system will interact with this very unstable environment and will likely lead to the production of thunderstorms, some of which will be strong to severe.

The trigger for the development of thunderstorms this afternoon will be a trough of low pressure that will move through way out ahead of the main cold front. This means that I think that we will probably see thunderstorms develop across Western Mass by about 3-5 pm or so this afternoon and some of these thunderstorms will probably be severe in nature. These thunderstorms are then expected to move into Central Mass by about 5-7 pm or so and again some of these thunderstorms will be severe in nature. These thunderstorms should then move out of the area by 8-9 pm or so this evening.

The main threat from any severe thunderstorms from mid and late afternoon into this evening will be wind gusts of up to 55-70 mph. Torrential downpours with localized street flooding will also be a threat from any strong to severe storms. While the threat is low, there is a possibility of perhaps a tornado or two given that there will be some turning in the low-levels of the atmosphere. Again, the tornado risk is fairly low.

The actual passage of the cold front during the after midnight hours of tonight will probably arrive with little fanfare.

Keep checking back throughout the day today for the latest. I will be watching the thunderstorm potential very closely and will have more updates for you as needed.