After the haze and smoke took over the region last week, the Bay State should not see the impacts from the Canadian wildfires this week as it’s expected to “feel like summer” with warm temperatures and thunderstorms.
The smoke from the wildfires dissipated across Massachusetts by the weekend, and it doesn’t appear that the poor air quality will return this week.
“It’s not looking like it will be similar to last week,” Bill Leatham, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald on Sunday.
He noted the major change in the wind pattern, which is why the smoke won’t come back to the Bay State, at least for the week ahead.
Meanwhile, temps for much of the week should be seasonable in the upper 70s and around 80 degrees, and the weather pattern is expected to turn unsettled again with the risk of showers each day.
“It should feel like summer this week,” Leatham said. “While it will be warmer, there will be an increased risk for thunderstorms through the week.”
Temps on Monday should approach 80 degrees, and a good portion of the day could be dry. Then, some moderate to heavy rainfall is expected to arrive Monday night. Rainfall amounts of 0.75 to 1.5 inches across southern New England are predicted.
“The best shot for widespread rain this week will be later Monday into Tuesday morning,” Leatham said.
After the rain overnight, it should be drier Tuesday afternoon with temps in the 70s, followed by another round of rain and potentially severe thunderstorms on Wednesday.
“There is still plenty of time for the forecast to change, but Wednesday will be a day to watch closely as we head into the new week,” the National Weather Service’s forecast discussion reads. “Hazards would be limited to damaging wind gusts and small hail as low-level wind shear would not be strong enough to support a substantial tornado threat.”
As this system exits, Thursday should be similar to Tuesday with clearing skies and seasonable temps in the upper 70s.
The wet to dry pattern looks to continue late in the week into the weekend, with possible rainfall on Friday followed by a drier day on Saturday.
