Boston weather forecast maps for this weekend show storm threat before possible pattern change

CBS News

01-05-2025

May has arrived and the weekends are becoming more precious and important. But the weather forecast for this weekend in the Boston area is complicated.
April weekends were mostly rough and wet. We seem to have gotten ourselves into one of those rainy weekend patterns (see 2023).
In Massachusetts, your good (or bad) fortune with the weather this weekend will largely depend upon timing and location.
Friday forecast for Massachusetts
You will notice a difference in the feel outside almost right away on Friday. The dry and comfy airmass from Thursday will be on the way out thanks to an early morning warm frontal passage.
Some showers and a few thunderstorms will roll through before dawn on Friday.
Behind those, a much warmer and more humid airmass rolls in. It will likely take much of Friday morning for most of the area to "adjust" to this new airmass and for clouds to scour out. By midday and afternoon, there will be a good deal of sunshine and a summer-like feel in most of the region.
Highs will climb to 80 degrees across MetroWest and up through southern New Hampshire. It will feel much different over southeastern Mass, where there will be areas of fog and cooler temperatures thanks to a south-southwesterly wind.
WBZ-TV graphic
CBS Boston
Finally, there is a slight risk of an isolated, late-day shower or storm, mainly in areas well northwest of Boston.
Saturday Boston weather forecast
The WBZ Weather Team is highlighting Saturday as a NEXT Weather Alert Day.
With a warm and humid airmass in place, there will be areas of low clouds and fog early on Saturday, particularly over southeastern Massachusetts.
In most areas, that will burn off during Saturday morning but, over south coastal Rhode Island and far south/southeastern Massachusetts, the fog will stick around most of the day.
Where the sunshine does win out, temperatures will soar to near 80 degrees once again.
With dewpoints in the mid 60s, there will also be a muggy feel to the air.
Showers and thunderstorms will erupt during the mid to late afternoon well northwest of Boston.
The axis of storms will be semi-stationary which could lead to localized flooding.
Greatest areas of concern include: The Berkshires, northern Worcester county, northern Middlesex county, northern Essex county, southern Vermont and southern New Hampshire.
WBZ-TV graphic
CBS Boston
Boston weather forecast for Sunday
This one is tricky.
There will be a frontal boundary in the area on Sunday. If it stays up in New Hampshire and Vermont, Sunday will be another warm and humid day and also mainly storm-free.
If it meanders south a bit and into the Boston area, Sunday would feature more clouds, scattered storms and cooler temperatures.
Right now, we are leaning towards a cooler and cloudier day on Sunday with highs mainly in the 60s and some scattered showers. If you have outdoor plans, I would absolutely stay tuned to updated forecasts.
WBZ-TV graphic
CBS Boston
Weather pattern change
Typically, if you want to mix up and change a weather pattern you need some sort of big atmospheric event. Well, we may see exactly that early next week.
Models are forecasting a large area of low pressure at upper levels in our atmosphere. It appears this may get "cutoff" from the main west-east flow of the jet stream and bring several days of rainfall to parts of the Midwest and Northeast.
Depending on the exact setup, it is possible that we could see several days and rounds of rainfall in New England next week. While this may sound miserable (and it very well might be), it may end up leading to a pattern change in the longer term.
WBZ-TV graphic
CBS Boston