Insane, Climate-Driven April Heat Continues In New England

Large brush fire burning near Exeter, Rhode Island
Friday amid unprecedented, record April heat. 

UPDATE: 6 pm SATURDAY

The heat continued to over-perform, at least in some parts of Vermont. 

It got up to at least 85 degrees so far today in Burlington, That's good enough for a record high for the date. The old record was 82 in 2003.

Today would have been the earliest in the season that it's been 85 degrees in Burlington, if not for the 88 degree reading we had on Thursday. 

It looks like Montpelier tied its record high for today's date at 78 degrees.

These aren't final figures. I'll have updates tomorrow. 

The area experiencing record warmth is shrinking from the east, south and west. Northwestern Vermont will be the last place to experience a cool down.  It'll probably get into the upper 70s there tomorrow, as opposed to the 60s to low 70s elsewhere in Vermont. 

Vermont just missed out on another interesting weather pattern today, as if there hasn't been enough lately. An upper level low in southern Pennsylvania created slow moving thunderstorms in Connecticut, western Massachusetts, southern New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Despite recent dry conditions, the storms were moving so slowly that long lasting torrential rain fell in a few spots, raising local flash flood concerns not far from where brush fires were burning. 

The storms didn't quite make it to southern Vermont so far, but one got as far north as around Saratoga, New York. 

Much cooler weather is likely next week. Which is to be expected, as it can't really get any hotter. 

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

Some of the temperatures I saw from southern New England Friday just blew my mind. 

It's barely the middle of April, and some reading in Connecticut and Massachusetts reached the mid-90s. I'm not kidding.  There are temperatures pretty much never thought possible this early in the season. 

Windsor Locks, Connecticut got up to 96 degrees, for instance.  As of 3 p.m. Friday, Windsor Locks was the hottest place in the United States. Hotter than Arizona, Texas and Floria and everywhere else. The old record high in Windsor Locks for the date was 82 degrees. 

Temperatures in the 90s reached as far north as New Hampshire. Manchester had a record high of 91 and Concord reached 90. Remember, this is the first half of April, not the Fourth of July weekend. In southern Vermont, Springfield topped out at 88 degrees.

A weak cold front slightly tempered the heat in northern Vermont Friday, but we still managed to set some records even behind the cold front. Both Montpelier and Morrisville achieved a record high of 81 degrees on Friday. St. Johnsbury had a record high of 80.

Burlington was uncharacteristically the icebox of Vermont on Friday, "only" reaching 77 degrees. That's still a full 22 degrees above normal for the date, so it was plenty unusual. 

Amid this strange, dry heat, brush fires broke out everywhere, but mostly in New Jersey southern New York and southern New England. Firefighters during the afternoon were fighting large blazes near Exeter, Rhode Island and Hopkinton, Massachusetts. 

Large brush fires in Rockland County, New York caused evacuations, minor damage to homes and destroyed sheds. 

Somewhat smaller brush fires were reported in the Vermont communities of North Clarendon, Rutland, Rupert and Colchester in recent days. 

Though no fires were nearby, the air at last evening's hazy sunset in St. Albans contained just a whiff of a smoke aroma. 

HEAT FADING, BUT STILL STRONG

The record heat is eroding from both the east and west in New England, but in some spots, the record high temperatures won't fully get flushed out until Sunday evening. 

A weak storm off the Mid-Atlantic coast is creating east winds in much of New England, which is bringing cool maritime air in off the chilly waters of the North Atlantic.  

Boston was 88 on Thursday and hit 83 Friday before the sea breeze kicked in.  Today, Boston is forecast to only hit 64 degrees.

Most of southern New England away from the coast should hit the low 70s today. Still warm for the season, but no longer shockingly hot.    

Vermont stays warm today, especially west of the Green Mountains and more record highs might fall.  Highs today will range from the low 70s in eastern Vermont to possibly low 80s west. The record high in Burlington today is 82 degrees, and that one is threatened. 

It'll be cooler still on Sunday but still way warm for the season. Vermont will feature 60s north and 70s west. 

Cold fronts are due Monday and Tuesday, and temperatures will actually be a bit below normal Tuesday and Wednesday. At midweek, highs might not get out of the 40s, before somewhat milder air returns late in the week.

CLIMATE INFLUENCE 

Record heat, and record cold should be expected from time to time. Weather is variable, after all. There's always been unseasonably hot days and out of character frigid days. 

A big dome of warm high pressure sat over the eastern United States this week. That is something that happens from time to time in the spring, with or without climate change. This warm high pressure would have caused near record high temperatures even without the influence of man-made heating.   

But a warmer world helped turn what would have been a lovely warm spring interlude into something insane. Many of the records set in the Northeast, including in Vermont, were easily the hottest for so early in the season.

As I mentioned yesterday, this wasn't a one-off.  Hottest for so early in the season heat has hit our region a lot in recent decades, including in March, 2012, February, 2017 and May, 2020. Just last November, it was 76 degrees in Burlington, Vermont, the hottest for the month of November and hottest for so late in the season. 

We might not have any more extreme heat this spring. Who knows, right? But with climate change, it's inevitable that sooner or later, we will again be marveling, - and a little frightened by - another unprecedented, out of season heat wave.