The weather has been pretty nice for most of the spring in Southern New England. Meteorological spring ends on Memorial Day, May 31, and the last weekend of spring will be among the coldest on record in Southern New England.
This Memorial Day weekend will go in the books as one of the coldest, and possibly wettest, on record in Southern New England. The temperature may not get above 60° in part of Southern New England from Saturday through Monday. In fact, it’s possible that it will not reach 60° in Boston. Rhode Island and Connecticut have a chance to reach the 60s on Monday, but the weather will be in the 50s (and 40s, gulp) on Saturday and Sunday. Rain is likely both days, before drier skies return on Monday – mainly in the afternoon.
The high temperature in the Providence area has never averaged lower than 60° for the last three days of May. It should average in the 50s for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. The current record is 60° from May 29-31, 1917! In Boston, there was a three-day stretch from May 29-31, 1887 when the high temperature averaged 55°. The upcoming Memorial Day weekend may challenge that record, and will certainly be the coldest last three days of May since at least 1938.
Then there’s the rain…Between late Friday and Monday, 2-4″ of rain is likely throughout all of Southern New England. The highest totals are likely near the coast. There may not be too many breaks in the rain/drizzle between Friday night and Sunday night, but the steadiest rain is likely Friday night and Sunday midday/afternoon. It does not look as wet on Monday, with the best chance of rain in the morning. It may be a bit milder with temps inching into the low 60s during the afternoon in part of Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Of course, the weather gets a lot better after the holiday weekend. Look for temps to get back into the 70s by Tuesday afternoon. The weather pattern should be drier for the start of June, with an early-summer feel returning by the first weekend of the month – a week too late!
