Pre 4th of July weekend is here with the 3 S’s on the forefront weatherwise for the weekend. Sun, Showers and Steamy conditions will prevail for the next several days. Yes, many will be able to get in their barbeques, see a ball game or two, get in a round of golf, take a dip in the pool, but the threat will always be there on the western horizon. A huge trough of low pressure will be hanging aroung the eastern portion of the country with its frontal boundary stalling out offshore as small ripples along the front will bring periods of rain and thunder our way. Then it will clear out, the sun will shine and the steam will rise from the surfaces.

Bad hair days will stay for awhile.

Central Connecticut has just seen its second heat wave of the season. 3 days of temeratures 90 degrees and over is a heat wave. That persistent pattern has come to an abrupt end today as clouds dominated,  but the nagging humidity did not go away. Over the next week or so, a constant threat of showers everyday, some heavy causing flooding of lowline areas. Also, thunderstorms will be around for good measure too.

A wet pattern is very typical for New England this time of year as changeable weather conditions stall creating a roadblock in weather systems.  Unfortunately vacation season has begun and many will need to be creative to handle the wet and humid days the lie ahead.

Here’s a weather update for the 4th of July and Four activities  likely will be appropriate.

1) Go to the movies

2) Catch up on indoor chores

3) A stroll through the mall

4) A picnic under a tent or in a enclosed patio

Get the drift? Yes, right now it looks like we will be in a very wet pattern for the Holiday week that begins this weekend. We may squeeze out one good day on Saturday but after that there will be a threat of rain showers for several days next week. Remember the weather pattern we were in from the of May through early June. “Ditto”

The hazy, sultry days of summertime has arrived in New England, temporarily. A Bermuda high pressure is lingering off our southeast coast and is creating a ridge in the atmosphere pumping humid tropical air clockrise into our region signaling a brief 4 day heat wave here. The configuration in the ridge will abruptly change at the end of the week as a dip in the jet stream will give us a sustained period of inclement and wet conditions like we had in early June through the 4th of July holiday. Use your movie passes next week!

In the news, the new word of the day is “Derecho”, derived from Spanish, meaning straight.  A long line of thunderstorms moved out the Midwest yesterday with straight line winds blowing outward from these clustered storms extending over 200 miles. This line of super cells follow a frontal boundaries separating cooler and moist tropical air. We were spared the wrath of a “Derecho” as it slid down a frontal boundary to our south. Unfortunately New England will be in the stable cooler air mass with rain heavy at times through early Friday morning. Can we withstand another 2″ of rain in our already super saturation ground.

Here we go again…another round of rain showers today, some quite heavy with lightning and thunder for good measure. Tomorrow will be the sweet filling of an oreo cookie as sunshine will the rule day with mild temperatures for June. Thursday will see a thickening and lowering cloud deck followed by another burst of heavy showers. Lowline flooding is a possibilty late Thursday into Friday. Then we save the best for last as this weekend will turn out brillant! Father’s Day will be near perfect wth abundant sunshine, low humidity and near normal temperatures of 79 degrees. Hopefully we can keep the string of nice days for early next week too. Stay tuned.

NAO means North Atlantic Oscillation, and when it’s in “negative” phase there’s a good possibilty of inclement weather. Usually in a negative NAO phase, low pressure systems ride along a trough (a dip in the jet stream) every few days on a boundary line line of warm humid air and and cooler air masses to the north of the trough. This NAO will remain in place for at least the next 10 days with cooler and wetter than normal conditions here in the northeast. Keep an umbrella handy!

Officially, the hurricane season begins June 1st and ends on November 30th. We’re only 7 days in this tropical season and the first named storm in the alphabet is ‘Andrea” with tropical characterists is moving quickly up the I-95 corridor with eyes on Connecticut. Andrea will be downgraded to a tropical low pressure as it hits the northern latitudes. The winds will diminish to under 35MPH but this moisture laden storm will spin off tropical rain bands on us for several hours. The end result as Andrea departs early Saturday morning will be 3 to 4 inches of rain. Small rivers and streams will quickly swell and low line areas will suffer its consequences. By late Saturday morning the sun will come and dry out our landscape. Sunday will be just fine with partly sunny skies and temperatures in the 80’s.