Memorial Day Weekend
It's the Memorial Day Weekend marking the unofficial beginning of summer. Meteorological summer begins on June 1 and the official beginning of astronomical summer, the summer solstice, occurs on June 21 at 12:38 pm. While we celebrate the kickoff of the vacation season this weekend, we must pause to think about what this weekend really means. Memorial Day Weekend is a time to remember all of the people who died while serving in our nation's armed forces. Memorial events including parades, concerts and other remembrances such as visiting cemeteries will take place all across the nation. Seeing a sea of flags or just one flag always takes always my breath away when I think of the sacrifices and service that each and every person gave to our country. Check out the 37,000 flags on the Boston Common that honor all of the Massachusetts' fallen heroes!
High tides will occur from the late afternoon to early evening through Monday with ocean temperatures in the upper 40s to middle 50s from north to south. Brisk westerly winds up to 25+ knots are likely Saturday followed by more southwesterly winds at 12-25 knots on Sunday . Visibility will be good at over 5 miles. Hiking and camping out west or up north will be decent with chilly to cool nights and pleasant days but be ready for a few showers on Monday.
May will end up in the record books with a mean temperature much above the current level of a +3.3 degree anomaly and that is significantly higher than I had been expecting. Does that suggest that the whole summer is going to be a steamer? With the global factors in play despite a strengthening El Nino, I am still anticipating meteorological summer to be a bit more than a degree above average.
Have a happy and safe holiday weekend.