Forecast: Much Needed Rainfall For Monday

We have a June nor'easter for today with significant rainfall and near-record cold temperatures for the afternoon. A storm system will be moving up the coastline and passing offshore during the day today. This will bring a period of rain, and some of it could be heavy at times. Most of the rain will be tapering off during the afternoon but it will not be clearing.

Tuesday, another upper-level system will spin up more clouds and some rainfall. This will be more showery in nature and won't amount to very much, but it will be a change from what we've been used to in May.

Last month was one of the warmest Mays on record. I fully admit that, as a gardener, I want regular rainfall and so I like it a little wetter than most people who aren't growing things. Regardless, May was very dry, as you can see from the map below.

This is one of the reasons the soil has dried out. Some lawns are beginning to burn out at an early time of the year. It looks like the next seven days will feature more regular precipitation so I'm not concerned about drought conditions but we were getting close to at least going into the early stages of drought.

There's no doubt that today will be one of the top five coldest June 4ths on record. The coldest happened back in the 19th century, but as recently as 2012 temperatures only reached 53 degrees on this date.

The middle part of the week looks to feature more in the way of sunshine. This should take us into the weekend but it's early for a confident forecast.

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Monday: Raw, breezy and chilly with rain, especially the first half of the day. Highs only 51-55.

Monday Night: Some showers, cool. Lows around 50.

Tuesday: Clouds, some showers, not as chilly. Highs 60-65.

Wednesday: Clouds, some breaks, a few showers possible. Highs within a few degrees of 60.

Thursday: Sunshine and pleasant. Highs in the lower 70s.

Friday: Partly sunny and warm. Highs 75-80.