STORMTRACKER ALERT: Storms Expected This Evening

Looking great for the holiday weekend!

It’s a clear sky outside for now, but that won’t be the case this afternoon/evening. That’s why we’re calling today a Stormtracker Alert day, with the risk of storms beginning late this afternoon, some of which could be strong-to-severe. Let’s break down today’s forecast:

This morning starts off warm and humid, but with lots of sunshine. This sticks around through the early afternoon hours, so if you have plans until about 3pm, you should be good. Eventually, as a cold front approaches, the front begins to tap into the heat and humidity and thunderstorms will form. Our thinking is that the best chance for strong storms will be between about 4-9pm tonight. Multiple cities including New Bedford, Warwick and Bristol have their fireworks celebrations this evening, and even if the thunderstorms exit in time, there may still be some lingering showers behind them.

Behind the cold front and once the shower/storm activity exits this evening, we are entering into a very comfortable airmass for the next few days. Temperatures will be in the low 80s and humidity will be much lower for Friday and Saturday. Sunday will be partly cloudy and dry, but we will dial up the heat and humidity a bit once again. Overall, a great holiday weekend for any plans you may have.

The heat and humidity is back in full force next week, and we expect this will give way to some more periods of unsettled weather beginning Tuesday.

Stay with ABC6 for updates today as the storms draw nearer. I will have an update on-air at noon and Chief Meteorologist Kristina Shalhoup will be tracking the storms this evening beginning on ABC6 News at 4pm.

-Tyler