Weather Patterns / Eastern MA / Spring (Boston, Florida: house, live, farmers)

[Tiger Beer]

I was just reading a few other things about, well, BOSTON in particular. Mentioning weather patterns.

Most of it is self-explanatory - cold in winter, warm in summer, nice fall.

SPRING however. I read that Spring seems to last a long time in Boston. Mostly on account of the ocean's proximity. Many spring storms come in, and just seems to drag out the winter months much longer than people like or prefer.

I guess the question is, however, is that THROUGHOUT Eastern MA? Is that predominately a Boston thing? Are there any weather microcosms that exist in Eastern MA?

[ChunkyMonkey]

During the spring, the oceans tend to be still quite cool as water takes a long time to heat or cool. Consequently, when you have an east wind or a sea breeze, it can knock the temps on the coast down by 10 degrees or more plus the wind chill effect. However, sea breezes do not penetrate too far inland so it tends to feel warmer inland during the day. Keep in mind, this is opposite in the fall when the ocean is warmer and keeps the coast warmer than inland areas. Consequently, the fall leaves don't reach peak on the coast until later as compared to most inland areas. I remember thinking that it was so cool when I had a 20 minute commute that I could see green leaves to peak color all in such a relatively short distance.

[anouk_pantoufle]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I was just reading a few other things about, well, BOSTON in particular. Mentioning weather patterns.

I guess the question is, however, is that THROUGHOUT Eastern MA? Is that predominately a Boston thing? Are there any weather microcosms that exist in Eastern MA?

Hahahahaha - you ask about weather in Massachusetts!

Better person to answer than I:

Lewis Black - February in Boston - Video Clip | Comedy Central's Jokes.com

Most of it is self-explanatory - cold in winter, warm in summer, nice fall.

How I wish that the weather here was that simple! Where did you get that idea? The last time I remember that it was cold all winter long was back in the '70's (oops: disclaimer here - as a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, I don't consider anything above 30 degrees in the winter to be cold). Now, with the weird weather patterns that the whole globe seems to be experiencing, (as Lewis Black put in his comedy routine seen in the link above), weather runs all over the place. Last year, for instance, I never put my winter coat away - in fact, for two yrs in a row, we had damp, rainy & cold weather extending into the summer for so long, most crops for the small, local farmers & home gardeners were hopelessly damaged.

SPRING however. I read that Spring seems to last a long time in Boston. Mostly on account of the ocean's proximity. Many spring storms come in, and just seems to drag out the winter months much longer than people like or prefer.

Depends what your definition of "spring" is - and which year you speak of. Spring might last 2 wks (if you think spring mean nice crisp air, warmer than winter, sunshine, robins singing, daffodils bursting through the newly warmed ground). Or, it might last a few months - if you think that "spring" means constant rain, some sun, more rain, cold, warm, cold again - then one day you wake up and BOOM - it's 84 degrees with high humidity, and then you know that spring is over.

Traditionally, the Cape has had different weather patterns due to the fact that it's surrounded by the ocean. Some areas in all of MA, not just Eastern, can be more prone to flooding (important during the spring thaw, if we have had a lot of snow). Places close to the ocean can be warmer, or on windy, cold days can freeze your butt off. It all depends.

[Beachcomber4]

Last year we had a spring, the previous year we just had an extended winter into a long, wet, cold summer. I grew up on the south shore and now live on the Cape and the weather is a funny thing all over MA but really funky in areas along the ocean. If the bay side of the Cape is cloudy, we will often drive to the other side where it's bright and sunny or visa versa. I've literally had days where it was bone dry at my house and 1/4 mile down the road (just far enough in from the ocean), the roads are soaked and it's pouring buckets. Same goes for snow. The discrepancies you see in areas very close to each are often monumental. My brother lives in upstate New York where he sees the same thing with lake effect precipitation.

[ogre]

It's true that sometimes a sea breeze will cause areas along the coast to be cooler than inland areas. However, it's also true that the entire New England region tends to have a lot of back-and-forth weather during the spring. In April there will be a lot of temperate weather, a variety of pleasantly cool, pleasantly warm, chilly, possibly the first hot spell of the year. In May and early June the weather is pleasant most of the time. All through this period, though, you're likely to see brief spells of raw, gray, dank, chilly days, followed by quick shifts back to more pleasant weather. This will happen inland as well as near the coast.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Most of the country gets spring much earlier than we do. Places like the Mid Atlantic states (DC/MD-Jersey/NY) and Seattle will be in full bloom by April while our vegetation will be just barely budding and won't be in full bloom until well into May. These are the years when people say "we have no spring in New England". However this past spring in 2010 was a wonderful full fledged spring. After some flooding rains in March we got some unusually warm days in the 70-80's and the vegetation started blooming and had peaked before the end of April.

I know one thing, people around these parts love to get out of here and head down to Florida, The Carribean, or somewheree warm in the month of March when most of us have had it with winter. It says the first day of spring on the calender being March 21 and you look out your window and everything looks brown, dead, and muddy with patches of snow, then it's time to get a way for a bit.