Good day, sunshine

(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

The cloud cover broke this morning at the Hopkinton Reservoir, where Stephen Wong played with his dogs Ruby and Toby.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

After five straight days of gloom and gray, the clouds finally parted this morning, giving way to sunshine and blue sky for the first time since the official start of summer on June 21.

The day began like a rerun of much of June with formidable, overcast skies. Low hanging stratus clouds burned off, however, as the temperature climbed into the 70s.

"The sun is back," said Jeremiah Pyle of the National Weather Service in Taunton. "I think we are all pretty excited about that."

By mid-afternoon, after only a few hours of sunshine, clouds began to roll back in to the Boston area.

More sunshine may peek through clouds on Friday, when the temperature is expected to crawl into the 80s for only this second time this month. Rain, gusty wind, and small hail, however, may sully the day. On the National Weather Service's website, the forecast for Boston says it all.

"A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11 a.m., then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 11 a.m. and noon, then showers and thunderstorms likely after noon."