Yup, I agree with that, Chipj29. All week long the "coastal factor" has been a tossup because of the way it usually impacts New England's first occurrence of summer weather. It appears that this weekend, the warm air will be strong enough to push back the coastal air in most places. The oceanfront will likely be a place for natural air conditioning tomorrow but most of the rest of us will be hitting 90 tomorrow and well into the 90s on Sunday.
This will be coupled with very high humidity, which will keep temperatures from dropping much overnight (water vapor is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases!)
For this weekend, watch yourself, your family, and those around you for signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. We're going right from the freezer into the fire, skipping the frying pan altogether (ain't that New England?) Therefore many will be caught off-guard this weekend. Limit caffiene and alcohol consumption because they both dehydrate you, as do drinks with lots of sugar (your body tries to flush it out.) This includes sport drinks, which many athletic trainers dilute 50/50 with water before serving. Stay hydrated... wear loose, well-vented clothing, and maximize your body's built-in cooling system. Heat stroke (when your body temp gets to 105 and up) is a medical emergency on a par with head injury, because the brain starts to die at that temperature. Treatment is exactly what common sense says: Cool the person off (move to cooler surroundings, wet down with cold water, ice packs, fans, etc.) give fluids only if they can swallow, and call 911.
One of the first signs of excess body temp is altered mental status, altered personality, irritability, etc. as the brain's continuous monitoring of the body starts to detect a trend it doesn't like. Cramps, nausea and fatigue are other things to look for.
Best yet: Every time you start to feel hot, take a dip in the lake which is unusually cool for this time of year (still hasn't reached 60!) I'm guessing it'll shoot up to the upper 60s by Monday, but that's still a chilly swim!
For severe weather, the arrival of the heat and humidity means we're now going have the "fuel." We have to start watching out for the "arsonist." That would be anything capable of destabilizing the hot, humid air and sending it rising rapidly - a motion that forms tall thunderheads, the bad boys of weather. As mentioned before, the cold air is out there, still running around putting snow on mountaintops and whatnot. It can nose underneath heat and humidity like a meteorological crow bar because it's heavier. Yesterday's discussion from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center called the Plains severe weather outbreak an April-like situation featuring cold that is more common of early spring, nosing under June's attempt at summertime.
Tomorrow we'll have a very weak area of low pressure cross New England from northwest to southeast in the afternoon. Low pressure is a general area of rising air, and it may be just enough to lift some of the heat and humidity... just enough to make some tropical downpours and a few thunderstorms in the afternoon - a typical Florida summer afternoon for NH.
Tuesday is the day us weather fans should be watching for potential severe weather on a larger scale, but at this point it's too far out to say anything more.
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