What a scorcher it was earlier Thursday afternoon with high temperatures stretching well in to the 90s.
New record high temperatures were set for Boston at 95, Manchester, New Hampshire, at 94, and Burlington, Vermont, and Portland, Maine, at 93.
Relief is on the way as early as Friday afternoon as a cold front approaches, but before we get to that, we have the threat of thunderstorms Thursday evening into Vermont, southern New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. The severe weather potential is greatest into Vermont this evening with the biggest concern being for damaging winds and hail.
The broken line of thunderstorms will slide eastward and are possible around midnight in Boston, but they will not be nearly as strong as earlier in the evening.
It will be muggy and warm Friday morning, before the cold front filters in from northwest to southeast, dropping temperatures significantly especially in northern New England. Southern New England will still be ahead of the cold front by the afternoon, so high temperatures will still reach to near 80 Friday with a renewed chance for thunderstorms by midday into parts of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
We settle comfortably into the weekend as high pressure dominates, bringing sunshine and seasonable temperatures. Both weekend days reach into the 60s, which will be great for any outdoor plans.
For the extended outlook, late Sunday night into early Monday brings the next round of showers to the area, with most of the rest of the week into the upper 60s with more rain chances by the second half of the week.
