Thursday is the preview of spring that many have been waiting for since it first appeared on our First Alert 10-day forecast.
Inland communities Thursday afternoon will find temperatures rising into the lower to middle 60s – some 15 or more degrees above normal for the date — under a blend of sun and clouds.
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A warm front crossed New England Wednesday night into Thursday morning, dropping little more than a few showers but marking an influx of new air. That said, the warm front hasn’t gone far past us, so with a relatively light wind, sea breezes are sure to kick up along the coast and will keep high temperatures within about 10-15 miles of the coast in the 50s, owing to the 40 degree ocean water.
In fact, the sea breeze is likely to push all the way to and beyond Interstate 495 in eastern Massachusetts by late afternoon, meaning towns from interior Rockingham County, New Hampshire, to the Merrimack Valley and Metro West will likely feel the air cool around 4-5 p.m.
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Clouds increase overnight Thursday night as a new, weakening storm center slides east from the Midwest, where it was responsible for severe weather early Thursday, but will deliver little more than rain showers to New England from the second half of Thursday night through Friday morning, breaking into just a few sprinkles by afternoon.
The abundant clouds and early ocean breeze becoming northerly during the afternoon will mean temperatures struggle to surpass 50 degrees in eastern New England, though western New England will land near 60 degrees by day’s end.
Although a renewed, isolated shower is possible in southern New England overnight Friday night, overall, a drying trend will deliver fair sky and pleasant temperatures in the 50s regionwide Saturday — the clear pick of the weekend.
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St. Patrick’s Day on Sunday features parades and festivals around New England. A new storm diving southeast through Canada will remain north of the border, but should throw enough energy and moisture southward into New England to generate scattered showers. In southern New England, the scattered nature of the showers should allow temperatures to rise into the 50s, while a steadier swath of rain and high terrain snow falls in northern New England, though total precipitation amounts will remain rather light, with one to two inches of high-terrain snow and about a quarter inch of rain in lower terrain.
Although fair weather moves in for much of next week in our exclusive First Alert 10-day forecast, with only a chance of showers briefly around midweek and again toward next weekend, that fair weather comes at the expense of temperatures: the air should be near the normal high in the middle 40s averaged over the course of the week, though a couple of days likely will be cooler than normal.
