photo by Dawn Gustafson
EAST HARDWICK – Last week’s temperatures peaked in the upper 80s and low 90s on Thursday. The Route 14 weather station just west of Hardwick Lake reported a heat index of 96 degrees by afternoon. This heat occurred ahead of a cold front that brought multiple rounds of thunderstorms with downpours during the afternoon, although we avoided any local reports of severe weather.
That cleared some of the humidity out and was followed by a couple of precipitation-free days. Another blast of rain came with a cold front sagging south through the day on Sunday. In the wake of the front, high pressure moving in from Hudson Bay brought fall-like temperatures on its northwest flow. The temperature in East Hardwick dropped to 41 degrees Tuesday morning, precariously approaching frost thresholds and giving a fall-like feel to the air.
That high-pressure system will slide off the coast in the next 24 hours, turning our flow southwesterly. This will allow the region to tap into the large heat dome building in the south-central United States. Expect a heat and humidity influx for Thursday and the first half of Friday. Temperatures will be in the upper 80s, with perhaps a 90-degree reading here and there on Thursday.
A frontal boundary approaching during the day on Friday will bring some unsettled weather in the form of showers and thunderstorms. It will be drier for Saturday and most of Sunday with seasonable temperatures and lower humidity. Another disturbance will be in proximity by the end of Sunday, with a few more showers and storms popping up. Things turn cooler again to start out next week. Here are the forecast details:
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. High: 78. Low: 57. Light and variable wind.
Thursday: Mostly sunny in the morning, then becoming partly sunny. Humid. High: 89. Low: 68. Southwest wind 10-15 mph with gusts to 25 mph.
Friday: Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High: 88. Low: 59. Southwest wind 5-10 mph.
Saturday: Sunny. Less humid. High: 83. Low: 58. Northwest wind around 5 mph.
Sunday: Partly sunny. Scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. High: 84. Low: 56. Southwest wind 5-10 mph.
Tyler Molleur, MSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, CPEN, NRP, is a Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, and Lecturer, Initiative for Rural Emergency Medical Services. He has been reporting on local weather conditions since he was in eighth grade at Craftsbury Academy.
Tyler is our weather reporter and a community journalist. He works as a nurse and EMT, volunteers with Hardwick Rescue and helps to train new EMTs.
