Freak system is blamed for rain
A winterlike weather pattern that stalled off New England has been the cause of all the misery since the start of May: our soggy shoes, flooded basements, and submerged streets.
Meteorologists say that the jet stream, the strong river of air 7 miles above us, hasn't shifted northward as it usually does by this time of year, to allow more summer-like weather to move in from the South.
Instead, a series of low-pressure areas trapped by the jet stream keep drawing up moisture from the Gulf Stream, the warm Atlantic Ocean current, and spitting it back down on New England.
``If it was winter, we'd be getting snow, a lot of it," said Frank Keimig, manager of the Climate System Research Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
If the more than 18 inches of rain that has fallen on Boston in May and June were snow, we would be digging out of 180 inches of the white stuff.
Yet, there could be good news ahead. The sun may peek out as early as tomorrow, and while there may be another storm system Wednesday and Thursday, the rest of the summer is looking normal for both temperature and precipitation, said Neal Strauss, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Today showers are expected in the morning and could occur throughout the day, according to the Weather Service. Temperatures will be in mid-60s. Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy with some chance of sun, gusty winds, and highs in the 70s. A flood watch that was in effect for the Boston area and much of Massachusetts last night was canceled.
Scientists don't know precisely why they are now seeing thisweather, but they do know that a more powerful weather system that blocks the jet stream to its northeast can cause colder than normal temperatures and northeast winds.
Storms that are normally quick-moving can't blow out of the area. They stick around for days, dumping enormous amounts of precipitation back on New England. This spring, we have had a series of those storms, three major ones in the last five weeks.
``Summer will come eventually," said Raymond Schmitt, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who studies climate. ``Sometimes we just get stuck in a weather pattern."
Last month, the total rainfall was 12.48 inches at Logan airport, 9.24 inches above normal, making it the second wettest May on record.
So far in June, Logan has measured 5.95 inches of rain, more than 5 inches above normal. 