It's still too early to say for sure, but NWS is at least raising the possibility of snow on Thanksgiving, and so the French Toast Alert gnomes are frantically looking up French Toast recipes again (it's been awhile since they've needed them).
The National Weather Service's Boston-area office says an end to our "red flag" days could be coming mid-week: Read more.
The Crimson reports the prolonged drought has been drying up Cambridge's reservoirs, leading to officials urging residents to conserve water - like by taking shorter showers. Worst case, Cambridge could buy water from the MWRA, which has larger, still relatively plentiful water sources out west, but that water would cost more.
All that rain we haven't been getting has meant dramatically lowered rivers, a statewide "red flag" warning about how easily things can go up in flames and now a state "critical drought" designation for "Massachusetts's Central and Northeast regions, including the Charles River watershed," according to the Charles River Watershed Association:
Streamflow in the Charles River is at critically low levels, with some sections showing zero flow.
Yesterday, a thermal inversion meant smoke from fires in Salem and nearby communities stayed close to the ground and came down into the Boston area. The thermal inversion is still there this morning as Nicholas Agri shows in photos from the Cottage Park Yacht Club in Winthrop. He reports the wind was blowing east today, but some folks are still reporting the odor of smoke.
Where's the Tobin? Morning haze over Boston Harbor. Photo by Josh Bittker.
On both sides of the Charles, people called 911 to report the smell of smoke this morning, as bone-dry brush in greater Boston started flaming overnight. Read more.
The current forecast from NWS Boston shows a chance of rain for Wednesday night into Thursday.
Ducky storm cell.
A little after 8, Gary C. called up a Boston weather map on his Storm Radar app and got a map that Dick Albert would've loved. Rogers noticed it, too.
A roving UHub photographer watched a crew carve up a large tree knocked over in West Newton by this afternoon's storm.
Oh hi there Ernesto ... coming for a visit? I see you tracking to the east of us so you can mess up our currants and bring out all the surfers this weekend.
Of course this means that with so many storms expected in the next couple of months, some of your friends may also come visit us and trash the place.
National Weather Service forecasters are saying that Tropical Storm Debby's track has shifted more to the north and west, so the impact on the Boston area will probably Friday into Saturday will probably be relatively minimal: "It appears the threat for significant flooding has shifted west of the region."
Mary Ellen spotted a too early sign of fall the other day at Millennium Park in West Roxbury.
Mark Smith watched the storm clouds roll in over Roslindale Square this afternoon (the Municipal Building and the Greater Roslindale medical clinic building in the lower left).
"Daylight come and me wan' go home," Handmaid recites at this morning's cloudy sunrise over Franklin Park.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today that if it had its way, it would rule in favor of collapsing Steward Health Care System and its property-owning spinoff MPT in a case involving the amount of insurance money they should get for rebuilding Norwood Hospital, destroyed by flooding in 2020. Read more.
OK, rather than Detroit in The Heat Is On, we went with a local heat jingle.
Mayor Wu has declared a heat emergency for Boston Monday through Wednesday, with temperatures in the 90s and humidity bringing the "heat index" around or over 100 degrees. If you can't stay cool at home, there's a city mapping system to find chill zones near you - including community centers, libraries and splash pads.
Matt Frank reports that people flocked to the East Boston waterfront this evening to take in the sunset over downtown.
At least three drivers got stuck in the raging floodwaters, well, deeper-than-it-looks lake that formed on Spring Street in front of the Star Market plaza in West Roxbury tonight. Read more.
Where's Johnny when you need him? All of Greater Boston is under a tornado watch until 8 p.m.
Handmaid hoped to see some brilliantly colored clouds at daybreak in Franklin Park, but instead got a sign it's time to try to stay cool for the next few days. She quotes Laurie Anderson: Read more.
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