Aside from a smoky haze to the sky, yesterday offered some nice summery weather as humidity stayed in check while temperatures rose up into the mid 80s. Today, we’ll dial it up another notch or two with temps pressing 90-94 inland, 80s along the coast. While a smoky haze will still be apparent, it won’t be quite as thick as yesterday.
Much of the smoke again today is above the surface, although a bit of it is near surface. The air quality alert in effect today for parts of New England is for ground level ozone numbers to be elevated. That’s a byproduct of sunlight interacting with VOCs and nitrogen oxides, which produces the ozone. That reaction happens at a faster pace during hot days, so isn’t all that uncommon on these 90 degree summer afternoons.
Humidity does go up this afternoon as dew points push into the 60s. Any shower/storm that pops is few and far between, so many of us stay dry (5-10% of us see a passing shower/storm).
Humidity stays up overnight, so tonight will be a warmer night with temps in the 60s to near 70. A few spotty showers/storm are possible late overnight/early Friday am, with a better chance for scattered storms tomorrow afternoon. Those afternoon storms will be locally strong with gusty winds and downpours. The highest risk will be north and west of Boston. Temps run into the low to mid 80s by noon inland, then slide back as easterly breezes get going.
The weekend is cooler, back into the 70s. While Saturday is likely not a washout, there will be some scattered showers/storms to deal with. Sunday will offer some drier weather. Ditto for Monday.