A ridge of high pressure is bringing New England near record heat to start off June, but this will be coming to an abrupt end Friday morning through Saturday morning. A strong cold front will drop through the region from northeast to southwest bringing thunderstorms, torrential downpours and a dramatic drop in temperatures. Here's what to expect:
RAIN & THUNDERSTORMS
When the cold front enters Maine on Friday morning, it will not have much moisture to work with, so this area should remain dry as the front passes. As it continues to push south, it will run into higher humidity and much warmer air. As it does so, showers and thunderstorms, some with heavy downpours, will begin to develop. A stable line of thunderstorms is not expected, thunderstorms and downpours are more likely to be scattered around.
Euro model showing numerous downpours and storms around Friday evening:
The greatest chance for torrential downpours, thunderstorms, and embedded gusty winds will be eastern Maine, all of New Hampshire, eastern Vermont and the northern half of Massachusetts. The front will slow down as it moves southward, this will, in turn, slow down the showers and storms. Areas where intense downpours set up could see a half an inch to up to an inch of rain from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning.
The showers and storms will begin in eastern Maine and northern New Hampshire in the early afternoon. Once the rain starts, downpours will continually cycle through the area through the evening. By mid afternoon, the rain will begin in southern New Hampshire and eastern Vermont. The rain will push into Massachusetts by late afternoon through the evening.
Western Maine and northern New Hampshire will see the most rainfall. Amounts taper off as you head south and west since there won't be as many showers and storms developing as there will be in northern areas.
TEMPERATURES
Northern Maine will not be heating up on Friday. Highs will likely only move a degree or two from morning lows in the mid 60s as the front pushes in during the morning hours. The rest of New England has another hot day on tap Friday, with highs reaching the low 80s in northern New Hampshire to the low 90s in southern New England.
The real headline with temperatures is the dramatic drop that will occur after the front passes. This drop will be most pronounced in southern New England, where maximum daytime heating will occur on Friday prior to the front's arrival. Saturday temperatures will only rise 2-5 degrees from morning lows, which will be in the mid to upper 50s.
Northern New England will do slightly better on Saturday, with afternoon highs rising 5-10 degrees from morning lows since the front will clear these areas sooner than southern New England. Vermont will be the least affected by the front and will likely be the warmest place in New England Saturday. The Champlain Valley should reach the upper 60s to low 70s.
The temperature difference between Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon will be more than 30 degrees in places. Northern Maine will see these temperature differences from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon.
LOOK AT NEXT WEEK
Next week is going to be VERY different from this week. The cold front will stall just south of New England. An area of low pressure will develop along the frontal boundary and cycle clouds and showers through the region. This low will be very slow to exit. So slow in fact that the extended forecast doesn't show its exit at all. It will likely be with New England through at least the end of next week. Next week will feature cool temperatures as well.
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