The southern two thirds of New England will warm up nicely Wednesday, but things will change abruptly as a potent cold front drops through New England throughout the day. This front will bring showers, thunderstorms and cooler weather once again. Here's a breakdown of impacts from this front:
RAIN & THUNDERSTORMS
A line of rain and thunderstorms will accompany the front as it moves from northwest to southeast. The intensity of the rain and thunderstorms will be strongest in the northern tier. The line will lose steam as it moves southward and especially eastward. The cooler marine air in eastern New England will help damper the line, however, showers will be possible across all of New England as the front pushes through.
Euro Model showing the line of rain across northern New England. This line will begin to fall apart rather quickly as it enters southern New England:
Thunderstorms embedded in the line are possible across all of northern New England away from the coast. As for southern New England, a few weaker thunderstorms and rumbles of thunder will be possible across western Massachusetts, but the line will be degrading as it enters Massachusetts, so thunderstorms are unlikely away from the Berkshires, but showers will remain possible. Some thunderstorms could get potent with gusty winds and intense downpours across northern New England.
While rain and showers will linger through much of the day across the northern third of New England, the southern two thirds will be dry for much of the day. The line of wet weather won't enter these areas until the late afternoon through evening.
TEMPERATURES
The northern third of New England will likely reach their high temperatures around mid morning. Highs in the north will likely top out in the 60s with afternoon temperatures likely in the 50s. As stated above, the rest of the region will be able to climb well into the 70s in the afternoon, with the exception of the immediate coast, which will stay in the 60s.
Temperatures will fall sharply behind the cold front amid rain and wind. Temperatures will drop into the low 50s immediately after the front passes. There is some guidance suggesting that temperatures could drop as much as 20 degrees in an hour across areas away from the coast! I think this is a bit dramatic, but temperatures will drop off sharply and noticeably when the wind chill is factored in.
Wind and temperature guidance around mid afternoon Wednesday. You can see where the front is based on the wind direction (represented by the small white lines). Winds are coming out of the north with cool temps north of the front and winds coming from the south and west with milder temps south of the front:
Temperatures will continue to drop off through the overnight hours, with lows bottoming out in the upper 30s to low 40s north and mid 40s south. Highs on Thursday will remain cool with highs topping out in the 50s north and 60s south. Temperatures will begin to rebound quickly, with seasonable temperatures likely on Friday.
TIMING
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