Western & Central Mass Weather Outlook For The Month Of August

July ended up A LOT rainier and stormier than what was indicated when I posted my forecast for July back in late June. That said, the signals were definitely there for a very rainy July, which ended up being very true. Here is a map showing rain totals for the month of July across the region:

Anyways, it appears that August could end up extending our stormy and rainy weather pattern for a good part of the month. The most current data seems to suggest that the upper level weather pattern will feature frequent upper level troughs of low pressure moving through. This looks to lead to a surface weather pattern of frequent frontal systems moving through every 2 to 4 days or so, which is very similar to what occurred during July. So while there will be sunshine, there will also be fairly frequent bouts of showers and thunderstorms during August. One other item of additional concern for August, especially for mid-August or so is the possibility of some sort of tropical storm or hurricane making a ruckus along the East Coast of the United States leading to possible impacts here in Southern New England. Data seems to point to the possibility of a tropical system lurking near or along the US East Coast during the week of August 14 and this is something that’ll need to be watched. Temperature: I’m forecasting temperatures that should be about average for a typical August. This means plenty of 80-plus degree days and nighttime low temperatures between 55 and 70 Degrees. I also think that the highest chance for 90-plus degree days look to be between August 19 and August 31. Rainfall: I’m forecasting above average rainfall for the month of August. In fact, the next chance for appreciable and potentially significant rainfall looks to be this coming Friday into Saturday as a frontal boundary pushes through the area. Current indications point to perhaps around 1 to 2 inches of rainfall with the showers/thunderstorms Friday into Saturday. In terms of amounts, my thinking is for rain totals in the neighborhood of between 5 and 7 inches across the region. This is about 2 inches above average.