Forecast: Beautiful October Day Friday Followed By A Cooler Weekend

A top 10 October day is underway Friday with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures on the way. High pressure is going to protect New England from any significant rain — or looking at it another way, prevent us from any beneficial rain — for the foreseeable future.

Hurricane Matthew continues to remain just off the coast of Florida and likely won't reach land. This will continue the string of no major hurricane making landfall in the U.S. since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. There will be damage from Matthew in the southeast, but nothing catastrophic.

Friday and Monday are the two sunniest days of the next four, with Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning likely the cloudiest periods. There is a chance of showers overnight Saturday and a stray shower or two, mostly south of Plymouth, on Sunday. Sunday’s skies will range from sunny over northern New England to cloudy over Cape Cod, as some clouds from Matthew and a slow moving frontal system interact.

Temperatures will cool this weekend from the 70s Friday back to the upper 50s and lower 60s by Monday. I don’t see any frost this weekend or next week as we don’t have a blast of Canadian air heading our way. This time of year we need a strong flow from the northwest followed by clear, calm conditions to really see frosty conditions.

The drought continues with Thursday's report showing no change. All of Massachusetts is drier than average ,with most of the state in official drought conditions. I don’t expect any changes to this through October and likely into November.

Follow David's weather updates on Twitter at @growingwisdom.

Friday: More sunshine and warm. Highs 71-75.

Friday night: Starlit skies. Lows 46-54, warmest in Boston.

Saturday: Partly sunny and mild. Perhaps a period of showers late in the day or overnight. Highs 68-71. Warmest inland.

Sunday: Lots of sunshine north, cloudy by the time you get to Cape Cod with a few showers possible. Highs in the lower 60s.

Monday: Continued dry with sunshine. Highs around 60 degrees.

Tuesday: More sunshine and seasonable.