This spring has been rather rocky. We have had some beautiful stretches mixed with some very wet periods. This, of course, is nothing atypical or new for New England in April and May.
“You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have…New England spring!”
Memorial Day Weekend is a perfect example of how amazing or miserable the weather can be here this time of year.
Two years ago in 2023, it was near perfection. Perhaps the only complaint was that is was too warm on Sunday!
Four years ago in 2021, the exact opposite. That was about as bad as it can get here at the end of May. Three days of rain with wind and temperatures barely cracking 50 degrees!
This week we are going to have a mini repeat of 2021. Before you freak out…at least this time, the nor’easter is coming BEFORE Memorial Day Weekend.
Now that I have your attention…
Let’s break down the week ahead and take a first look at the holiday weekend.
This will be a very cool week considering we are now approaching late May. Average highs this week range from 67-69 degrees. Our actual highs this week will fall between 10-20 degrees below those averages.
The next couple days will be mainly dry but quite cool and cloudy with very little sunshine. I’d give Tuesday and Wednesday a “meh”.
Thursday and Friday will be downright foul. We expect a nor’easter to impact the entire area between Thursday PM and Friday AM. Yes, you read that right.
A coastal storm will form off the coast of Virginia Wednesday night and take a path just south of New England later on Thursday.
This will bring several hours of heavy rain, gusty northeast winds and some minor flooding (inland and coastal).
We will have much more detail tomorrow with regards to exact rainfall timing and amounts however, there is certainly potential for 1-3″ of rain.
This would lead to widespread, localized flooding and some rivers nearing their crests (again).
The tides will be quite high (astronomically) over the upcoming weekend. Had the storm been a few days later, we could be talking about a significant coastal flooding event. Tides on Thursday and Friday will be rising but not yet to concerning levels. Therefore, we expect pockets of minor splashover and flooding Thursday night and possibly Friday morning as well.
Memorial Day Weekend will get better with time. Each day will be better than the last as the Thursday nor’easter loses its grip and moves away.
Same deal over at Harvard Stadium…improving forecast day by day.
The rain threat gets less and less, and temperatures get higher and higher each day.
The early “pick” of the weekend would be Monday.
