(This week's) climate change: rain like Florida

A pool of cold air hovering over south-central Canada, coupled with a hot
and humid air mass over southern New England, have combined to create
the turbulent weather, said Charlie Foley, a National Weather Service
meteorologist in Taunton. A cold pocket above that humid air mass made the storms more severe, said his colleague, Rebecca Gould.

“It’s fair to say we had basically a tropical air mass in place,” Foley
said. “It’s not unusual to have thunderstorm activity in late-June or July,
but to have the frequency we’ve had the last week to 10 days is.” He added
that the storms have been hit and miss, so some cities and towns have had
only occasional downpours.

Wednesday afternoon, Foley said, Somerville was hit by one-inch hail, unusual for the region. And Braintree recorded 62-mile-per-hour winds. Heavy rain caused some urban flooding, Foley said.

A strong cold front should move through the region Thursday night, and if
it keeps moving out to sea, the holiday weekend should be relatively
tranquil, with cooler temperatures expected, Foley said. If it stalls over
southeastern Massachusetts, however, residents could be in for more
Floridian weather.

Readers, has it felt like Florida to you? Did you have an urge for an early-bird dinner? Have your say on this tropical weather in our comments section below.