- Expect a chilly start to Friday... with temps near 50!
- A pretty nice weekend is expected.
- Showers/storms are likely Saturday evening/night.
- Follow us on Twitter for real-time weather updates.

Today's Forecast

Overnight
Clear skies and light winds will allow temperatures to drop rapidly... it will be pretty cold for a July night!
Lows: Near 50... some spots in the upper 40s!

Friday
Sunny skies, dry, and nice for all outdoor activities. High temperatures will be coolest at the coast (around 75) and warmest inland (around 80).
Highs: 75-80.

Friday Night
Mostly clear... not quite as cold as Thursday night, but still chilly!
Lows: 54-56.

The Extended Forecast

Saturday
Mostly sunny for much of the day. A few showers or storms are possible after 6pm in western areas of the region... but the Atkinson area will likely remain dry during the daylight hours. Showers or storms will move through overnight.
Highs: 76-80.
Chance of rain: 20%

Sunday
A few lingering clouds are possible during the morning, especially along the coast... otherwise partly sunny.
Highs: 78-83.
Chance of rain: 20%

Monday
Partly sunny.
Highs: 75-80.

Tuesday
Partly sunny.
Highs: 75-80.

Severe Weather Videos

With all the recent severe weather, there have been plenty of opportunities to snap some pictures or catch some video. And many people have been doing that, and thanks to YouTube, we can look at those videos.

Hail in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, 7/7/09:


Flooding in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, 7/7/09:
There was also flooding in Hopkinton the very next day, Wednesday 7/8.


Westborough, Massachusetts Hail, 7/8/09:

Storms Strike in Massachusetts Again

It was another stormy day on Wednesday for some in New England. Once again, the Atkinson area and all of Southern New Hampshire/the Merrimack Valley escaped the strong storms. We did have a few downpours from time to time, but overall nothing big occurred here. It was the second severe weather day in a row for parts of central and eastern Massachusetts. On Tuesday, flooding rains were the big story. Today, hail, wind, and flooding all happened. However, the damage happened in a much more localized area, and it was only caused by one thunderstorm. The storm that developed was what we call a supercell - the strongest kind of thunderstorm. Often times, these storms have rotation to them, and if that rotation comes to the ground it results in a tornado. Doppler radar indicated that this storm was rotating near Hopkinton, Massachusetts just after 3 p.m. There was also a report that a trained weather spotter observed rotation of the storm - not a tornado or funnel cloud - in Grafton, Massachusetts. Consequently, the weather service issued a Tornado Warning until 3:45 p.m. for towns such as Hopkinton, Westborough, Grafton, and Upton, which were in the path of the storm. There were no actual reports of a funnel cloud or tornado in those areas. However, damage had been done. In and around Hopkinton, there were numerous reports of trees downed by wind, and hail piled a few inches deep. The National Weather Service sent a team to the scene to investigate. They determined that a tornado did not strike, but rather a microburst occurred.

Storms Slam Some, Others Not Nearly As Hard Hit

All of the area saw rain at some point in the day on Tuesday. That said, some were hit much harder than others. In Atkinson, the weather wasn't extreme at all. While the rumbles of thunder were distinct and we saw some heavy rain, we only managed to pick up a little over a third of an inch during the afternoon. Conversely, just over the Massachusetts border in Methuen, the rain was torrential for an hour or two. This lead to lots of ponding on the roadways, and even some minor flooding of poor drainage areas. Doppler radar estimates (as shown in the graphic on the right) at least 1.5" of rain fell from Lowell to Methuen; much of that fell over the course of a couple of hours.

More significantly, doppler radar estimates that 5" to 7" (pink and dark red shading on the graphic to the right) of rain fell in portions of central Massachusetts over the course of just a few hours! This was due to thunderstorms that "trained" over these areas, or moved over these areas repeatedly. While doppler radar estimates are just that - estimates - they appear to be verifying. A weather spotter from Grafton, Massachusetts reported to the weather service in Taunton that 5.41" fell there today. In Westborough, Massachusetts, 4.82" was reported. This torrential rain caused flooding from Burlington, Massachusetts, where both sides of Rt. 128 were flooded, to Worcester and Shrewsbury, where several roads were impassible.

Even though flooding rains were the major issue, some of the storms were hailers. Quarter sized (1") hail was reported in Hudson and Nashua, New Hampshire, and Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. Tim Kelley passed this picture of the hail along, taken by Thomas Costello in Nashua this afternoon. Tim also says that today is the 12th day of the past 13 that hail and flooding has occurred in New England. Amazing stuff.