Weather

Boston Records First Heat Wave of 2020, Perfect Beach Weather Expected Tuesday

The weather quiets overnight Monday night, with less humid air arriving by dawn for a much more pleasant Tuesday.

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Boston officially recorded its first heat wave of 2020 on Monday, with three straight days of 90-degree weather.

High temperatures are between 95 and 100 degrees for much of central and southern New England, but the effect of dew point temperatures near 70 degrees, indicating plenty of moisture in the air, will push heat index values over 100 degrees through 5 p.m.

Our bodies cool when sweat evaporates off of our skin – in humid weather, sweat doesn’t evaporate nearly as quickly, meaning the body can’t cool nearly as effectively, so a heat index of 102 degrees Monday afternoon in Boston indicates the air will have the same impact on the body as a 102 degree day with more normal humidity. A cold front easing over New England from northwest to southeast maintains the risk for a few thunderstorms from 3 to 8 p.m. Monday.

People are trying to beat the heat despite the pandemic during a hot stretch of weather.

While our exclusive NBC10 Boston and NECN Forecast System shows only a 30% to 40% chance of thunder in the Worcester-Providence-Boston corridor, that’s certainly not negligible, and the concern is even a few thunderstorms would have plenty of hot and humid air to provide energy for storm development, meaning any of the storms may become strong and damaging. So keep an eye to the western sky, where the storms would move in from, and remember “when thunder roars, go indoors.”

The weather quiets overnight Monday night, with less humid air arriving by dawn for a much more pleasant Tuesday, even as temperatures rise through the 80s to near 90 by Tuesday afternoon. Humidity should remain pretty comfortable Wednesday, though as humidity starts to increase late in the day and toward evening, the chance of showers and thunder rises and remains elevated Thursday.

Right now it looks like comfortable, less humid air will arrive in time for the upcoming weekend for what appears, at least right now in our exclusive First Alert 10-day forecast, to be a delightful weekend with storms not in the forecast until a slight chance late Sunday. Humidity may rebuild into the first half of next week, with a returning chance of thunder.

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