06/20/2025: Comfy Friday, but Heat & Humidity Loom
The Latest Storm Tracker Forecast from Meteorologist Kevin Appleby:
On the heels of yesterday's heat, humidity, and storminess, Friday treats us to less humid, cooler weather with increasing sunshine. The more refreshing feel is very much temporary, as our warmest stretch of the season is in store for next week.
The only true caveat, if you chose to classify it as such, is the windy weather, which is especially present for the AM hours of today. Wind Advisories are posted for Western New England and parts of the North Country through 2 PM this afternoon for gusts that may exceed 50 MPH. Otherwise, we will all see the winds die down over the course of the PM hours with increasing sun. Lower humidity will be combined with seasonably cool high temperatures, so it should make way for a phenomenal weather afternoon across the region.
A batch of cloud cover will overspread the area overnight, which may lead to a few spotty showers after midnight (much like this morning). Coverage of showers will be isolated, and rainfall amounts will be low. Speaking of low - temperatures bottom out in the upper 50s to around 60 or so - by far the coolest, most comfortable overnight of this forecast.
Saturday will feature a good deal of sun to start, which will become increasingly filtered through the afternoon thanks to thickening cloud cover. The threat for showers and thunderstorms will increase as we approach sunset, but the more widespread threat holds off until dark. Temperatures will spike back into the low to mid 80s with increasing humidity.
Our weather pattern into next week is all about the upper-level ridge of high pressure which will be centered to our south. This weekend, we find ourselves on the northern fringe of this ridge, which leaves us vulnerable to showers and storms which tend to rotate around the northern periphery of ridges like these.
Models, at this stage, are struggling with the exact placement of storms for Saturday night into Sunday - to be expected, considering the thunderstorms have yet to develop well to our west. The idea is that, after a few evening showers and storms, a more dynamic complex of thunderstorms will swing through in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning. The particular model above is keeping this bigger complex of t-storms mainly to our east, but it's a strong possibility that this is too far to the east.
While a westward shift is a possibility, it's far from a guarantee. That said, with a surface frontal boundary draped over the region during this period, should the larger complex of storms swing through, it would be entering a very favorable environment for intensification, with strong wind gusts the primary concern. The environment is rather impressive, as it would be able to accomplish this at nighttime. We will continue to follow the trends in guidance closely over the next 24 hours as the exact placement and timing of these storms becomes clearer.
The storms will clear out of the area by mid-morning Sunday, and then the heat is on for the remainder of the forecast. High temperatures will approach 90 on Sunday, and blow well past 90 to kick off the upcoming work week. Additionally, thanks to dew points in the 70s, heat index values will approach or exceed 100 degrees Monday and Tuesday afternoons.
96, our current forecast high for Monday, would tie the long-standing record for that day set back in 1888. Tuesday is a very similar weather day (I debated matching the 96 degree high forecast from Monday). 95 would also tie a record, although this one is a bit more recent as it was set back in 1943. Temperatures trend downwards as storm chances trend upwards, with highs in the mid 80s by Thursday as we look to contend with more widespread showers and thunderstorms by then.