Thunderstorms, Some Of Which Will Be Strong To Severe, Are Expected This Afternoon Into Early This Evening Across Western & Central Mass

It’s likely to be a busy afternoon and early evening in terms of weather across the entire area as thunderstorms, some of which will be strong to severe, are expected.

Temperatures by this afternoon will be around 80 Degrees & will combine with a humid air mass to produce a moderately unstable atmosphere. This unstable air mass will combine with an eastward moving weather disturbance to produce numerous showers and thunderstorms across the region during this afternoon and early this evening.

It appears that numerous showers and thunderstorms will begin to develop by about 2-3 pm and reach its peak intensity between 5 pm and 9 pm. The showers and thunderstorms should then push out of the area by about 11 pm.

The moderately unstable air mass and the forcing from the weather disturbance will lead to some of the thunderstorms to be strong to severe. The main severe weather threat will be localized wind gusts of up to 45-60 mph. There is also the possibility that some of the thunderstorms might produce some pea size to penny size hail. The tornado threat this afternoon and early this evening is extremely low.

I also wanted to mention that the combination of a humid air mass and the expectation of slow moving thunderstorms will produce torrential downpours that occur for an extended period of time. This will probably lead to localized flash flood threats across the region, especially in areas where the thunderstorms either move slowly over you or back build leading to repeat thunderstorm activity. There is the very real risk for up to 2 to 4 inches of rainfall to fall in less than 2 hours in some localized areas.

The severe weather and flash flood threat is something that will be watched very closely and I will have updates for you as needed.