The Bolton Common Weather RSS

2008-01-03T15:27:04Z

Time and time again you have likely noticed the vast difference in weather along the coast, including Boston, than Metro North and Metro West. The reason has to do with something called the coastal front.

Tuesday, Jan. 8: Partly cloudy, windy. Low temp. 32; high temp. 55

Wednesday, Jan. 9: Cloudy, very windy. Low temp. 38; high temp. 57

Time and time again you have likely noticed the vast difference in weather along the coast, including Boston, than Metro North and Metro West. The reason has to do with something called the coastal front. You see the warm waters of the Gulf Stream often play a part in the development of storm centers offshore and their associated fronts, that is the leading lines of warmer air (warm front) and colder air (cold front). Here in New England, and in fact, sometimes up and down the entire Eastern Seaboard, those warmer offshore waters force a boundary back about 10 to 20 miles back from the coastline. To the east of that boundary, temperatures are far warmer with winds northeast, east, or southeast.

To the west and north of the boundary, temperatures can be five, 10, 15, 20, 25 degrees colder during storms, with winds mainly from the north.

The funny part of it is, Boston is not alone in this setup, that front, as I mentioned can run down the coast almost every time along this route: Portland, Maine, to Portsmouth, N.H., to Route 128 west of Boston, to between Hartford and New Haven, down across White Plains, N.Y., then west of Atlantic City, and all the way down to Norfolk, Va., Central North Carolina, and believe it or not, east of Atlanta, Ga. Think about that for a moment, I said east of Atlanta, meaning sometimes, Atlanta, Ga., gets stuck in the same cold air mass that we do in suburban Boston. Although it is usually too warm aloft for snow down there, they often get freezing rain (glaze) because of that cold air that gets wedged in on the east side of the Appalachians. Bet you didn’t know we had something like that in common with our southern states.

Ohm speaking of freezing rain, yes, we are overdue for an “ice storm,” and with that coastal front the likely cause of it, it is only a matter of time before we have one. Something to keep in mind next time you are shopping for flashlights or candles.

You can watch the winds and weather change daily on ToddGross.com.

2008-05-12T07:25:00Z

Our weather appears to strike an “April Shower” chord more in May during these years when the jet stream lags down from Canada and continues to keep the winter-like storms zooming our way.

Friday, May 9: Periods of rain and drizzle. Low temp. 45; high temp. 55

Thursday, May 15: Showers and thunder possible. Low temp. 42; high temp. 68

When I was in college I did a study on our weather in New England. Once in awhile, when the jet stream refused to lift into Canada as it normally does in the spring, we get hit pretty hard with frequent May rains.

In fact, our weather appears to strike an “April Shower” chord more in May during these years when the jet stream lags down from Canada and continues to keep the winter-like storms zooming our way.

Each storm that is dropping into the plains states from the Pacific Northwest seems to have its sights set on the New England states this year. What does this mean for you? Well the first thing that comes to my mind is that it holds up some of the precious springtime activities. Concrete for pools and decks gets held up, new paint jobs are delayed, and gardening is put off. It is hard to predict when this pattern will break, but there is no doubt that this year has that April feel here in May, at least we still get the “May flowers” regardless. Just in time for Mother’s Day.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine. Visit Todd on the Web at www.ToddGross.com.

2008-05-01T14:48:13Z

The tornado outbreak in Virginia reminds us that we are not immune to severe weather here in the East, but is there a difference between Virginia and Massachusetts when it comes to tornadoes and super severe thunderstorms?

Sunday, May 4: Showers. Low temp. 40; high temp. 58.

Thursday, May 8: Partly cloudy, shower. Low temp. 44; high temp. 72.

Severe weather season is here

The tornado outbreak in Virginia reminds us that we are not immune to severe weather here in the East, but is there a difference between Virginia and Massachusetts when it comes to tornadoes and super severe thunderstorms? The answer is yes, but …

You see, the humid air that works up from the deep south is usually “richer” and more loaded with moisture than what we end up with in New England. The clash between that and drier/cooler air coming in from the northwest sparks more frequent tornadoes in the middle Atlantic states from Eastern Pennsylvania right down through the Carolinas. However, our weather conditions sometimes meet that same critical criteria.

On June 9, 1953, Worcester’s tornado was bordering a category 5 (strongest tornado on the scale) as the mile-wide storm caused nearly 100 fatalities. The problem with the infrequent tornadic activity is that we don’t have storm preparation drills, for the most part, in New England. So, while we have less frequent severe storms, we also would be less prepared. The number one reminder of course, is to always head for the basement, if you have one, or an interior hallway on the ground floor, when you hear the roar of severe weather coming.

You can check for other safety tips on toddgross.com.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine. Visit Todd on the Web at www.ToddGross.com.

2008-04-19T08:01:29Z

After finding ourselves with a slightly slower than normal “first bloom” this season, it is that time. Cherry blossoms (yes, just like Washington, D.C.). Apple blossoms, daffodils, tulips, even magnolias will be coming out in full force in the next one to two weeks.

Friday, April 18: Partly sunny; low temp. 38; high temp. 63

Saturday, April 19: Partly sunny; low temp. 35; high temp. 68.

Sunday, April 20: Sunny; low temp. 40; high temp. 70.

Monday, April 21: Partly sunny; low temp. 38; high temp. 65.

Tuesday, April 22: Sunny; low temp. 33; high temp. 65.

Wednesday, April 23: Cloudy; low temp. 42; high temp. 65

Thursday, April 24: Showers; low temp. 52; high temp. 66.

 “Blooming to the Max”

After finding ourselves with a slightly slower than normal “first bloom” this season, it is that time. Cherry blossoms (yes, just like Washington, D.C.). Apple blossoms, daffodils, tulips, even magnolias will be coming out in full force in the next one to two weeks.

The real show for New England, however, is in May, and not April. In fact, the saying “April showers, bring May flowers” is particularly appropriate for us, since our blooming season doesn’t come into full thrust until the first two weeks of May.

Can you guess where in New England is the last place to see the greenery come forth? Did you say the higher mountains? Well, yes, that’s true, but how about the Maine coast? Yup, good ol’ Massachusetts, New Hampshire and especially Maine waterfront sometimes sees the blooming last, due to the sea breeze.

You see, the trees actually do bloom according to the temperature. The warmer the temperature, the faster the growth. Simple as that. So while the ground may not be as frozen along the coastline in the late winter as the interior, the retarded growth is directly attributed to the cooler temperatures there for the rest of the spring.

As you know, however, spring always comes sooner or later to all parts of New England, even during the “year without a summer,” but that is a topic for a future article.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine. Visit Todd on the Web at www.ToddGross.com.

2008-04-12T07:51:39Z

The spring peepers have arrived. OK, a bit later than usual this year, but there is no holding them back.

The spring peepers have arrived. OK, a bit later than usual this year, but there is no holding them back. In today’s times with shrinking open land and less awareness of nature, the call of those annual tree frogs is becoming more and more overlooked, and misunderstood. In fact, in many movies, I hear the soundtrack of the high pitched peeping peepers “cast” as crickets in the summer. The spring peepers are actually tiny little frogs that live in area marshes. They chirp their mating call well into May, their voices become more shrill than melodic late in the season.

Other natural calls of the wild have been miscast in movies as well, and it just bugs me. Ironically one of the worst was a late fall, early winter scene shot right in Princeton where crickets and Katydids were supposedly chirping and clamoring away. What were the directors and producers thinking? Nature isn’t just for boy scouts and girl scouts. With all the concern for keeping the Earth “green” in recent years, you would think that somewhere along the line, we’d all stop and listen for the peeps and chirps a little harder before they disappear entirely.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine. Visit Todd on the Web at www.ToddGross.com.

2008-03-28T17:29:11Z

I was listening to the radio a week ago and heard a complete twisting of data around by a radio talk show host, of all people. He was illustrating how global warming is not taking place, in his opinion, because state all-time temperature records weren’t being set.

Friday, March 28: Snow/rain. Low temp. 28; high temp. 37

Saturday, March 29: Clearing, cold. Low temp. 22; high temp. 34.

Sunday, March 30: Sunny. Low temp. 20; high temp. 44.

Monday, March 31: Sunny. Low temp. 24; high temp. 48.

Tuesday, April 1: Rain or snow. Low temp. 28; high temp. 40.

Wednesday, April 2: Clearing. Low temp. 30; high temp. 45.

Thursday, April 3: Sunny. Low temp. 25; high temp. 44.

I was listening to the radio a week ago and heard a complete twisting of data around by a radio talk show host, of all people. He was illustrating how global warming is not taking place, in his opinion, because state all-time temperature records weren’t being set.

Rest assured, you can’t take the high temperatures of each state, and point out that the highest on record was set long ago, and then mistakenly come to the conclusion that the Earth is not warming at all. That’s exactly what this misguided radio talk show host did, and yes, he is heard nationwide.

You see, taking state all-time high temperature records doesn’t prove a thing, as it takes years to set all-time records, whether the Earth is warming or not. (He would have been closer to being accurate if he noted the trend of lowest temperatures set but that’s another story entirely, and another set of statistics to examine.)

What bothered me about this is that even if Al Gore’s version of global warming is exaggerated, how can some folks take information, apply amateur statistics, and then run the risk of confusing the already inconclusive issue of global warming even more?

There is no doubt that the Earth has been in a warming trend in the past few decades; the disagreement is whether or not it will continues. In a time when the Earth may be at a critical juncture, being cautious now, rather than sorry later, seems to be the only logical and responsible course of action.

This is another example of the political nature of this environmental problem. This is a problem for all of us, and requires action before the potential snowballing of temperatures upwards spirals out of hand.

The next time you argue this issue in your own home, or hear inflammatory remarks about it on the radio or TV, think twice before you pick a side. We are all on the same side on this one, I’m afraid. We’re not talking about Atlanta weather just coming to Boston, we’re taking about the Cape under water, New Orleans gone for good, New York Harbor gobbling up half of Manhattan, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, or on second thought, icebergs will be few and far between.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine. Visit Todd on the Web at www.ToddGross.com.

2008-02-28T14:18:48Z

With all the wintry weather this season, we’ve managed to already reach above our normal 55- to 60-inch annual snowfall. Well, that may sound like a lot, but is it?

Extended forecast for Bolton

With all the wintry weather this season, we’ve managed to already reach above our normal 55- to 60-inch annual snowfall. Well, that may sound like a lot, but is it? Consider the world record of Mt. Baker in Washington. Baker, Wash. holds the world record for the greatest verifiable snowfall in a season, with a reported depth of 1,140 inches recorded for the 1998-99 season. The previous record of 1,122 inches was set at the Rainier-Paradise National Weather Service Cooperative station during the 1971-72 season. That is nearly 20 times what we’ve had, although that is an extinct volcano and ski area. And even away from the Pacific storms to some extent, Alta, Utah has already hit 515 inches of snow for the current season.

While all these amounts are impressive, the truly snowiest places on Earth go unmeasured. It is in unmanned areas such as the high terrain of the Himalayas and many other mountainous locations worldwide where the heaviest snows occur, perhaps more than 2,000 inches in a 12 month period.

Such grand totals lead to the formation of glaciers of course, which just means snow that never ended up melting in the summer, so it eventually creates a tremendous ice sheet. Despite global warming, many glaciers still form in these tremendous snow areas in 2008. The only place that has ever become “almost” glaciated in New England, is Tuckerman’s Ravine near Mt. Washington.

If the earth did cool and not warm over decades to come, that would be our first local glacier to signal the change.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine.

2008-02-14T14:26:37Z

With this week’s mess on Wednesday, the question comes up: When is the most likely time of year to flood? Well, you’d think the answer is March or April with melting snows, but that is only partly true, can you guess why?

Sunday, Feb. 17: Sunny, increasing clouds. Low temp. 14; high temp. 30

With this week’s mess on Wednesday, the question comes up: When is the most likely time of year to flood? Well, you’d think the answer is March or April with melting snows, but that is only partly true, can you guess why? Yup, hurricanes and tropical storms make us unique here in the Northeastern United States.

We have two potential flood seasons. Not only that, we can even have flooding in the middle of winter, like this week, and from heavy thunderstorms in the summer season. So while it is most likely in the spring or early fall, we are four-season flood prone.

That differs from almost everywhere else in the nation, where flooding tends to run in distinct seasons. For example, the western mountains only have flooding at time of snowmelt in the spring. The desert southwest will flood in only the thunderstorms and Pacific-induced rainfall of the late summer, the Pacific northwest only in the winter and spring when storms come ashore. The only other exception would be the Southeast and Gulf Coast which can endure flooding from tropical systems and thunderstorms at any time.

One of the problems with flooding here in the Northeast is that we usually do not endure “flash flooding,” but it can happen. That is when flood waters rise so quickly, you simply can’t get out of the way in time. The fact is, that can happen with small rivers and streams here on rare occasions, and you should never try to cross flooded roads as water is coming up due to recent rain and snowmelt. Your car could stall out, and that would leave you stuck. Something to think about on the next snowy or rainy day.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine. Visit Todd on the Web at www.ToddGross.com.

2008-01-10T12:56:27Z

Folks always seem so shocked when the temperature does that wild swing from cold to warm or vice versa.

Wednesday, Jan. 16: Flurries; partly sunny. Low temp. 22; high temp. 30

Folks always seem so shocked when the temperature does that wild swing from cold to warm or vice versa. Well admittedly, the tornadoes in the Midwest and thunderstorms in the Northeast were rare, and I have to admit even I was surprised at just how warm it got on Tuesday.

However, when we say “normal” temperature, what we really mean, as meteorologists, is the average temperatures based on 30 years or more of past data. In other words, even if the normal high is 33 degrees in early January, sure sometimes it can be 10 for the high and other times 60. It all “averages out” with time.

Ironically we are still in a cold and stormy jet stream pattern and you should get ready to “average out” the current warm spell as temperatures tumble with each storm, and we likely get back to more snow or ice in coming weeks.

Meanwhile, make the best of the current thaw, rain or no rain, because it may be one of the few times you’ll be able to find something you may have lost in that formerly deep snow pack before winter settles back in.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine. Visit Todd on the Web at www.ToddGross.com.

2007-11-02T11:50:59Z

Much of this is coming straight from skyandtelescope.com, but you can also read up on toddgross.com all about it. Grab the finder charts as well. What am I referring to? The new comet of course.

Much of this is coming straight from skyandtelescope.com, but you can also read up on toddgross.com all about it. Grab the finder charts as well. What am I referring to? The new comet of course.

You see, the strangest comet to burst onto the celestial scene in our lifetime is easy to see with your bare eyes — even if your sky is fairly light-polluted. You just have to know exactly where to look. After dinnertime, go outside, find a spot where bright lights don’t glare into your eyes, and face northeast. Look high up for the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia, a landmark of the autumn sky. The W is standing on end.

If you look below it, halfway towards the horizon and fish around with binoculars, you'll be able to see that one of those stars is actually what I like to call, a "blob.” A comet without a tail. It brightened a million times over in just a few days last week and became as bright as well, normal stars.

The problem, to me, is that it is hard to tell you where it is because it looks just like a star, rather than a comet, making it uninspiring compared to Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake about 10 years ago. Nevertheless it is growing in size and worth the look. It is moving a bit each overnight so make sure you get out there with a finder chart in hand. A rare opportunity that you can share with your kids.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine. Visit Todd on the Web at www.ToddGross.com.

2007-10-05T09:28:38Z

There has been something “wrong” with our foliage for the past few seasons, culminating last year in a true lackluster performance.

There has been something “wrong” with our foliage for the past few seasons, culminating last year in a true lackluster performance. Hopefully after the “dulling” period we have just gone through our colors
will come back to life.

The best weather for foliage tends to be cool nights and warm days, but some years everything seems like it is going fine and the colors just aren’t “vibrant.” It seems to me that the peak colors are not only averaging almost a week later now than when I was a kid, but I could swear that the years of vibrant colors outnumbered the ho-hum seasons like the past two. Well, we’ll see with the peak now usually happening around Oct. 23. Yup, Oct. 23, not the 18th, not the 16th like when you might have been young. Last year I surmised it might truly be global warming that made that shift. This year, I’ll let you just, well, think about it.

Provided by Todd Gross, former chief meteorologist at Boston’s Channel 7 television station, who has been forecasting New England’s weather for more than 25 years, and is a two-time Emmy winner for Best Weathercaster in New England. Todd lives in Bolton with his wife Ava and their children — whose middle names are Sky and Sunshine. Visit Todd on the Web at www.ToddGross.com.