A cold front is now pushing through New England, which will provide us with cooler temperatures for the next couple of days. Friday looks to have a high of 66 degrees, but it will be even cooler on Saturday and Sunday (highs will only reach the mid 50’s!). Friday will also bring us a combination of wind and rain, with winds around 15 mph.

The forecast for Memorial Day looks promising, although it is still a couple of days away. Hopefully there will great weather on Memorial Day since it is thought to be the unofficial start of summer! After hiding for the beginning part of the weekend, the sun is looking like it might make a welcomed appearance towards the end of the holiday weekend.

The picture in this article shows the sun peeping through the leaves. Though the sun looks calm from afar, the sun unleashed a couple of massive Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) this past week. CME’s are basically explosions from the sun that propel energy and radiation-filled particles through space. Our atmosphere and the magnetic fields protect us from the harm that CME’s could do to our planet. If Earth happens to be in the line of fire from any sort of CME, effects such as radiation storms, radio and electrical blackouts, and Northern Lights could be noticed on Earth.

The blow from this CME did not directly hit Earth, although it did spark a minor Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights) over parts of the Arctic. Solar flares, or CME’s, are either qualified as Class C, M, or X, with a Class X flare being the largest type of flare. Each letter of class (C, M, or X) range from numbers 1-9. The smallest flare from the sun could be classified as a C-1, and the highest would be an X-9. The solar flare that erupted from the sun this past week registered as an X-3.2, which was the largest flare of the year. The sun constantly produces solar flares, most of which go unnoticed by us because they either are too small, or aren’t directed towards Earth. The sun is always active and constantly keeps astronomers on their toes because of its unpredictability. The sun affects us in so many ways – it is truly fascinating to learn about it!

As much as we’d all love to say good-bye to cold temperatures, they are destined to make a comeback, albeit for a short time, in the beginning of the week. Low temperatures just might dip down into the upper-30’s Monday night. That forecast has prompted a Frost Advisory to be in effect for towns and cities, most of which are west of Boston. Therefore, Hingham is not included in the Frost Advisory (yet!), but residents should be mindful of the possibility of near-freezing temperatures during Monday night into Tuesday. If you are considering doing some gardening work this week, I’d advise you to work after Tuesday, which is when the Frost Advisory ends.

Warmer temperatures should return after the brief cold snap. It’s looking like high temperatures are forecasted to be in the mid 60’s and even low 70’s throughout the majority of the week. Winds should stay calm, for the most part. Wednesday might bring a little breeze with it, but skies will remain clear.

This week is shaping up to have great weather, and I urge you to get outside and enjoy it!

Storm clouds make an ominous appearance over the ocean during a different storm.

The thunderstorms that swarmed almost all parts of Massachusetts on Thursday actually produced a tornado, which was later confirmed by the National Weather Service on Friday. The tornado touched down at 4:33 pm Thursday, in Stoughton. It was categorized as an EF-0 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. The Enhanced Fujita scale categorizes tornadoes from EF-0 to EF-5, with an EF-5 being the most catastrophic and causing the largest amount of damage.

Though there were speculations that an actual tornado had hit Stoughton, there was a lot of data had to be collected by the National Weather Service survey team in order to officially call it a tornado. The Stoughton tornado was mostly noticed by a local car dealership, because some cars were raised off the ground due to the strong and gusty winds, which are now thought to have been between 70 and 80 mph.

So far, the nation has experienced a very small amount of tornadoes. Only around 100 tornadoes were recorded in April, which is usually a very active month for severe weather in the Midwest. The average number of tornadoes in April is 187. However, April 2011 was an extreme month for severe weather, as there were 750 tornadoes that touched down across the country. The last major tornado to hit Massachusetts was on June 1^st, 2011, and it was rated a EF-3 tornado.

That storm system should clear out after Thursday, and Friday looks as though it will be sunny with the high temperature almost reaching 75°F.

Some rain could return for the beginning of the weekend, but the small storm system will hopefully move out just in time for Mother’s Day. As it now looks, the weekend is forecasted to have high temperatures in the upper-60’s.  Hopefully there will be nice and sunny weather for Mother’s Day!

Roughly one month since announcing I would step down from my forecasting duties to take a new job at FOX 44/ABC 22 in Burlington, Vermont, two local teens are ready to spearhead regular updates.

Tucker Antico, a Cohasset resident and sophomore at Boston College High School, will join Weston sophomore Laura Kee in maintaining the website. Both Tucker and Laura have long loved the weather, and are excited to continue forecasting Greater Boston weather!

Tucker will update the forecast portion of the website a few times per week, while Laura will post regular blog write-ups to the site.

While not active in daily updates, I will be overseeing their efforts and helping in any way possible behind the scenes.

Please continue to read the site for all of your weather needs, and contact us with your comments!

April did not give us much of the famous “April showers” that tend to be associated with the past month. Only a mere 1.34 inches of rain fell, whereas the average amount of precipitation for April is around 4.51 inches. In Hingham, many weeks seemed to be a hodgepodge of temperatures. Many of the weeks in April had some days where the high was in the mid 60’s, and the following day, it would only reach the low 40’s. April has been known to have both chilly and warm temperatures as the northern hemisphere makes its transition into summer.

Since we are now in the final month of meteorological spring, we look forward to what the month of May has been previously known to bring. May is typically known for flowers blooming as the mercury in the thermometer starts to rise. In Hingham, on average, the high temperature at the beginning of the month is 64° F, and the average low temperature at the start of the month is 43°F. By the end of May, the high temperature tends to be around 72°F, which will be a welcomed change from the winter that we New Englanders have just experienced. I encourage you to enjoy the sunshine and warmer temperatures that come along with the lovely season of spring.

Back in 2004, when the early versions of HinghamWeather.com were first developed, I had no idea the site would last 8 years. And it hasn’t just lasted, but thrived, thanks to loyal readership from people all around Hingham, the South Shore, and Greater Boston.

Aside from a few vacation days, I have diligently updated the site with forecasts and weather interest stories daily since 2005. The site was rewarded by logging millions of hits in active weather months, an extraordinarily satisfying achievement for this aspiring meteorologist.

Loyal readers watched me grow from a weather-weenie high schooler, to Penn State meteorology student, to now meteorologist. It’s been an exciting ride to say the least.

The ride is far from over, but it’s entering the next phase. Beginning this month I will shift my forecast efforts north, and to television. I have accepted a meteorologist position at FOX 44/ABC 22 in Burlington, Vermont. I feel extremely privileged to continue forecasting tricky New England weather.

My new role will require my full attention, so sadly, HinghamWeather.com will cease operation on Friday April 5 after a special tribute and final forecast.

> VIDEO: Click here for a look back at HinghamWeather.com through the years

I am actively searching for someone to continue the site after I leave the helm, so please contact me if you even think you may be interested.

In the meantime, I’d like to thank you again for your patronage. I hope you continue to follow my forecasts from Burlington by following me on Twitter or Facebook. And remember, tune into FOX 44 or ABC 22 when you’re up skiing. The Burlington market includes the Adirondacks, most of Vermont, and parts of Central New Hampshire. Even Southern Quebec tunes in!

Weather or not, here I come Burlington!

-Michael

Showers will move through after dark on Easter, but we’ll dry out by Monday morning. Winds will pick up, clouds will increase, and showers will roll through during the afternoon along with a cold front. That front will send temperatures from the upper 50s on Monday into the low 40s by Tuesday!

It will stay bright, windy, and cool through mid-week.

The walk, which begins around 7 AM, will dawn sunny and chilly with temperatures in the middle 30s. By late morning you’ll notice clouds starting to increase with temperatures reaching the middle 40s.

The afternoon will feature mainly cloudy skies, along with a few hit and miss showers, but highs will climb into the low 50s.

Sunshine returns for Saturday, and most of Easter Sunday looks good too. Some rain is likely to move in late in the day Sunday, or more likely Sunday evening, so stay tuned for more details on that.