Good Tuesday evening!
***A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH is in effect for Litchfield County until midnight. A DENSE FOG ADVISORY is in effect for Southern Middlesex and Southern New London Counties from midnight until 10am Wednesday morning***
Wow, what a day! A tornado warning was first issued for Northern Litchfield County at 4:57 this afternoon and a second tornado warning didn't expire until 6pm. There has been no confirmation of a tornado touching down in Connecticut, but the same storm produced a tornado in Eastern New York. There were multiple severe thunderstorms warnings across Northern Connecticut where hail up to .75" in diameter was reported.
Here is the rest of the discussion as intended before the severe weather began:
The summer season officially arrives 1 month from today on June 21st at 1:04 in the morning. That is when the summer solstice will occur. However, summer weather is already here! The temperature peaked at 91 degrees at Bradley International Airport this afternoon. The last time that happened was all the way back on August 31st of last year! We came very close to having a record high today. The existing record is 93 degrees and that was set on May 21st in 1996. While it was hot across much of Connecticut today, Boston was considerably cooler with highs only in the mid 60s! The frontal boundary between the warm air and the cool air stretches right across Southern New England. This front is also the focal point for showers and thunderstorms. There is the potential for severe thunderstorms especially across Northern Connecticut this evening and the main concern is damaging winds and large hail. There was a report of 2" diameter hail in Kinderhook, NY. These thunderstorms will also produce a lot of lightning and heavy downpours. Weather conditions will settle down later this evening and it should be fairly quiet after midnight. Since the humidity is so high, we may have to deal with areas of dense fog later tonight and tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow will feature more of the same! We can expect another very warm, humid day with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. High temperatures will range from the 70s at the beaches to near 90 degrees over Northern Connecticut.
A cold front will approach New England from the west on Thursday. That means we'll have more showers and thunderstorm to deal with. There is the potential for more severe weather before the week is over and some parts of the state could receive a lot of rain. The front will pass through Southern New England on Friday and weather conditions will remain unsettled although it will be turning cooler. By Friday, high temperatures will likely be held to the 70s.
The holiday weekend is still looking very nice, although showers could linger into Saturday morning. It all depends on how quickly a coastal storm will move away from Southern New England. As the storm departs a northwesterly wind will usher in cooler and drier air for the rest of the weekend. Daytime highs will be in the 60s and lower 70s and nighttime lows will be in the 40s with potentially some 30s in the normally colder locations!
Have a great week!
Chief Meteorologist Bruce DePrest
