Back to Back Record Lows Possible?
Find Eric on Twitter and Facebook
Sure it can get cold in New England in September. And I'll bet not many turned the heat on last night. But something happened Tuesday morning that has become quite rare in a warming world. We set a record low! You'd think that's happened plenty of times, but the record low was actually the first one set at Logan in over 6 years! The last time a record low was set was March 9th, 2007 (according to the National Weather Service). While temperatures on average have been warming in recent decades, the urban heat island effect also makes it tougher for cities in particular to set record low temperatures. The asphalt, buildings, and general concentration of life helps hold in heat, which is radiated out from those surfaces at night.
That makes tonight even more interesting. Once again dew points are in the 30s, and skies will be crystal clear. With less wind, temperatures will fall back rather quickly, and yet another record low may be threatened at Logan. The record which stands for the 18th of September is 43 degrees, set way back in 1875. I think we'll come very close to that mark, so stay tuned!
Also another frosty evening out there for the same folks who saw patchy frost last night. I think in general, most spots will be 1-2 degrees warmer than Monday night. But if you'd like to protect your annuals and gardens, you will want to bring them in or cover them up. Any frosty patches will be NW of Boston, with no frost threat in the city or across SE Mass.
Otherwise the story is just a big sprawling area of high pressure sitting right on top of us for the rest of the week. This will keep skies generally clear; quintessential New England September weather! Each day a touch warmer than the last through the start of the weekend. The upper 60s tomorrow will feel delightful in comparison to today, and the low/mid 70s to end out the week will be nothing short of spectacular. So head on out and enjoy!
The next chance for rain won't arrive until Saturday night, as a cold front approaches. Those showers should linger on Sunday morning, but right now I'm hopeful that they *may* end before kickoff at Gillette. Still plenty of time to work out the details on the timing, so stay tuned. Once that front clears, next week looks just like this one with lots of sunshine and great fall weather. No complaints.
I did want to share a couple 'sign of the times' photos that were sent in by viewer Dan Houde today. The first gets you in the mood for how beautiful this part of the country can be this time of year. Some swamp maples turning along a bog in North Conway, NH.
But the 2nd photo may bring a grin to all the snowhounds out there. The guns were blazing Tuesday morning at Bretton Woods! Not coating the slopes just yet, but just testing on the guns on a cold night (Mount Washington Regional Airport went down to 31 for a low temperature). Thanks Dan for sending these in!
In the tropics, Humberto is still plugging away as a Tropical Storm out in the middle of the Atlantic. It poses no threat to land. There are a couple of hints that something may try to develop (likely some sort of hybrid or subtropical storm) off the East Coast late next week. There are also some hints in the Gulf of Mexico. The ECMWF, among other models, are showing this potential sometime around Wednesday of next week. The more likely area of development would be in the Gulf, and that will have to be monitored closely. Anything that spins off the East Coast would likely head out to sea quickly, but we have to stay vigilant this time of year! Some of the biggest tropical events in history have been in late September and October. In fact, the 75th Anniversary of the '38 Hurricane is Saturday. Here's a great write-up on it by the NWS office in Taunton: Hurricane of '38
Last note is a programming note - in the spirit of the season and the weather, we'll be out live at Parlee Farms in Tynsboro, MA Wednesday afternoon! Feel free to come out and say hello, or at least tune in to hear about how weather has really helped create a bumper crop in MA this year. You can click here for the Parlee Farms website.
