Friday night: Areas of clouds and fog south, otherwise partly cloudy. Lows in the 50s. Saturday: Mild and breezy with clouds giving way to increasing breaks of sun for the second half of the day. Highs in the low to middle 70s. Sunday: Mild again with record breaking highs possible, in the middle 70s despite mostly cloudy skies. A sprinkle possible.
For a straight-forward forecast of mild air, there are some subtleties that will play into the finer details of the weekend forecast.
But first, the straight-forward part: high temperatures will reach or exceed 70 degrees in a number of New England communities Friday through Monday.
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One of the subtleties to the forecast was evident early Friday morning: pockets of dense fog. Our First Alert Team expects these pockets of fog to develop again Saturday and perhaps Sunday morning, particularly south of the Massachusetts Turnpike, but also possible from the Maine Turnpike to the coast, as a persistent wind slowly but surely increases the amount of moisture in the air.
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That increase in moisture also will mean each day this weekend brings a bit more in the way of clouds – another subtle forecast feature that can have a visible impact. In fact, after ample sunshine Friday, clouds will drift in late Friday night in addition to the fog, and these clouds are likely to persist through Saturday morning in spots, as another push of warm and slightly more moist air arrives just a few thousand feet off the ground.
In fact, Saturday morning may even see a few sprinkles or light showers in central and western New England, including central Massachusetts into central New Hampshire, as that renewed push of warmth arrives.
By afternoon Saturday, breaks of sun will be commonplace for another afternoon of exceptional warmth into the 70s.
A recent solar flare will excite upper atmospheric particles Saturday night for what would be a potential Northern Lights viewing opportunity in northern New England, but we think clouds will probably fill much if not all of the sky Saturday night – nonetheless, if there are breaks, it’s certainly worth glancing skyward in the North Country.
While most record temperatures in southern New England during this stretch were set in the 1930s or 50s and are close to 80 degrees — probably a bit outside our reach this time around — Sunday’s record highs are more vulnerable. They're in the middle 70s and will be broken if our forecast holds.
Further, northern New England records are more vulnerable during this stretch and more may fall, including some warm overnight low temperature records.
Much like Saturday, Sunday isn’t guaranteed to be entirely raindrop-free for all: a slow-moving cold front on the wya should focus some afternoon scattered showers in northern and western New England, and the rest of us will find limited sun through clouds with the potential for a sprinkle from time to time.
The final day of warmth is Monday, when temperatures return to the 70s, though with the chance of a few showers as a sharp cold front moves through, opening the door to sharply cooler air more typical of November for Tuesday through midweek next week.
By next Friday and Saturday, the chance of showers rises for New England before a reinforcing shot of cool and dry air likely improves the second half of the weekend, but leaves this weekend’s warmth as a distant memory – enjoy it while it lasts!
