Boston weather: Heat to near record highs for October, rain likely mid-week

Boston is set to kick off the week with high temperatures likely to near records, before seeing a round of rain around mid-week and a cooler period headed into the weekend, according to forecasters.

“Broadly speaking, we’ve got high pressure control for most of the week,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Francis Tarasiewicz. “We’ll have a warmer first half of the week with temperatures well above average, potentially close to record high temperatures, like we saw (Sunday).”

The week is likely to kick off with sunny skies on Monday and a high around 85 degrees in Boston, forecasts show. The record high for Oct. 6 in Boston is 86 degrees, meaning NWS will be keeping a “close eye” for a new record, Tarasiewicz said.

On Sunday, several sites around the surrounding region neared new record highs as temperatures climbed into the 80s, the meteorologist noted.

Tuesday is expected to also remain well above average temperatures, forecasts show, with a high around 80 degrees. Skies are forecasted to remain mostly sunny through the days, NWS states, though showers are likely later in the night after 2 a.m.

“Some much needed rain Wednesday,” said Tarasiewicz. “Won’t be necessarily a washout or heavy rainfall event, but up to a half inch or so rain certainly. And then turning much cooler that second half of the week.”

Wednesday is expected to see a cold front pass through, with the high dipping into the upper 60s, the meteorologist said. Rain is likely through the day, with a thunderstorm possible before the early afternoon, forecasts show.

“Then we clear things out,” Tarasiewicz said. “Start Thursday and Friday with much cooler conditions, especially Friday morning, where we could see some temperatures in the freezing mark.”

Thursdays is expected to reach a high in the upper 50s, forecasts show, with a low that night around 40 degrees. Friday may be slightly warmer, with a high in the mid-60s.

Both days ending the work week are forecasted to remain sunny, NWS states.

Headed into the weekend, preliminary NWS forecasts show temperatures may rise slightly to reach highs in the 60s as skies remain mostly sunny.