Today (Tuesday): Rain showers to emerging sun. Highs in the 70s. Overnight Tuesday Night: Patchy fog. Lows in the 50s. Wednesday: Sunny, warmer. Highs in the 80s.
A band of drenching downpours slowed the morning commute across much of Western and Central Massachusetts, as well as parts of Southern Vermont.
In West Springfield, Massachusetts, just over 3" of rain fell within a couple of hours. That flooded streets, and even stranded some vehicles in high water between 6 and 8 a.m.
The intensity of the rain diminished as it moved east, but it still provided need rainfall to many cities and towns. 2.89" was reported in Agawam, Massachusetts, 1" in Warren, 0.98" in Chicopee, and 0.66" in Grafton.
That's still not enough to erase the deficit that continues to grow, leaving much of the area in moderate to severe drought.
The rest of Tuesday will feature mostly cloudy skies with just a spot shower in Southern New England. Sunshine will be more widespread in Northern New England.
Sunshine works back in for all of us during the middle of the week as high pressure builds in. Temperatures will also return to the 80s.
Meanwhile, in the tropics, a Hurricane Hunter aircraft is investigating an area of disturbed weather in the Caribbean. If that storm organizes enough, it could become Tropical Storm Earl as it continues to move westward toward the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
