Why are there so many t-storms in MA currently?

Question

The weather in [Boston], MA is ridiculously. It's summertime and it's constantly raining and thunderstorming. What's the cause of this weather?

Answer 1

Thunderstorms can occur whenever the conditions are right.  That means, warm moist air, and some sort of lifting action.  As saturated warm air rises higher and higher it eventually reaches a point where the surrounding air is too cold to hold that much water.  The water condenses and starts to fall as rain.  However, if it is hot enough below this rain cannot reach the ground and is picked up by the warm air from below and pushed back up again.

If this occurs long enough the result is a big unstable air mass loaded with moisture.  It finally reaches a tipping point.  When that happens it releases a lot of moisture all at once overpowering the lifting action of the hot air below.  

As you might imagine, there is a considerable amount of violent action as moisture molecules collide with each other going up and down.  This builds up a lot of static electricity resulting in lightening.  

If you are experiencing more thunderstorms than normal it is because these factors keep coming together in the correct formula.  I just checked the weather for Boston as of 0830 on Wedensday July 23 and your humidity reading is 87%. The current temperature is 68f and your dew point is 64f.  The dew point is the temperature a parcel of air has to be lowered to for its moisture to become visible.  

Since your dew point is only four degrees less than your surface temperature you can imagine that the altitude you need to reach where the air is only 4 degrees cooler is not very high. That means lots of visible moisture (clouds).  When the sun heats the surface today, the heat will carry that moist air aloft.  No wonder you have a 50% chance of thunderstorms today.  If they do not happen you will have an 80% chance of rain tomorrow.

You have a stationary (not moving) front to your South and a big low pressure area sitting right on top of you.(me too, the same low is sitting over New Jersey).  We have had thunder storms this morning already and it is raining on and off with a total overcast.  

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Answer 2

It's hot.

Answer 3

I live about an hour from Boston,its either hot and HUMID or rainy and gloomy.