Shots of cold aim for the Midwest as normal autumn chill holds over the Northeast into Halloween
By
Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 19, 2019 3:08 PM EST
Researchers are studying how climate change could play a role in the factors that affect leaf life cycles and when fall foliage appears.
An active pattern will send several storms across the eastern half of the country, making for topsy-turvy temperatures in the Midwest while less-dramatic flips are in store for the Northeast for the balance of October.
"The pattern will allow several storms to track through the Great Lakes through the end of the month," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Eric Leister.
These storms will cause dips in the jet stream, and trigger outbreaks of chilly air to pour into parts of the Plains and Midwest.
One blast of chilly air that spun in on gusty winds at the start of this week will linger into Wednesday with highs in the 40s and 50s F common.
Despite a brief warmup for the upcoming weekend, temperatures will again drop for the last few days of October with highs only in the 30s, which is more characteristic of the latter half of November.
Some of the wet weather will make it into the Northeast as well but temperatures fluctuations will be less-extreme from Ohio on eastward.
While the cold will be able to dive deep into the Midwest, most of the Northeast coast will be protected from having the same chilly afternoons.
"There will be instances, during clear skies and light winds at night, where temperatures can drop to frosty levels prior to Halloween," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"It is possible that the lowest temperatures of the season so far at night occur during the last weekend of October under just those conditions," Sosnowski said.
This means that some areas which have not experienced a frost or killing freeze just yet could have just that well before any big blast of cold air sweeps in during November.
Much colder air is forecast to build over central Canada toward the end of October.
"However, the speed at which this air empties southward and turns eastward is questionable at this point," Sosnowski said.
After temperatures generally reach the 60s for the next 9 days in cities like New York City, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., the high temperature trend may fall into the 50s in time for Halloween.
"It's also possible that the step down in temperature holds off until later during the first week of November," Sosnowski said.
Families wait outside of the White House for a trick-or-treat event just before Halloween, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
"Below-average temperatures are much more likely for the North Central states by Halloween versus the mid-Atlantic and New England as the series of storms may tend to hold up that southeastward progression of the cold air," Sosnowski added.
Evening temperatures on Halloween will range greatly across the region. Temperatures could hover in the middle 30s in Minneapolis while falling to near 40 for many cities in the Great Lakes region, like Chicago and Detroit.
When the cold air fully busts through farther to the east, daytime temperatures could be held to no higher than the 40s over much of the Interstate-95 corridor of the Northeast.
With the weather pattern and storm track, it is possible some areas could also be dealing with some cold rain and wet snow for Halloween.
Details will unfold in the coming days.
Download the free AccuWeather app to see the latest forecast for your region. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Weather News
Shots of cold aim for the Midwest as normal autumn chill holds over the Northeast into Halloween
By Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 19, 2019 3:08 PM EST
Researchers are studying how climate change could play a role in the factors that affect leaf life cycles and when fall foliage appears.
An active pattern will send several storms across the eastern half of the country, making for topsy-turvy temperatures in the Midwest while less-dramatic flips are in store for the Northeast for the balance of October.
"The pattern will allow several storms to track through the Great Lakes through the end of the month," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Eric Leister.
These storms will cause dips in the jet stream, and trigger outbreaks of chilly air to pour into parts of the Plains and Midwest.
One blast of chilly air that spun in on gusty winds at the start of this week will linger into Wednesday with highs in the 40s and 50s F common.
Despite a brief warmup for the upcoming weekend, temperatures will again drop for the last few days of October with highs only in the 30s, which is more characteristic of the latter half of November.
Some of the wet weather will make it into the Northeast as well but temperatures fluctuations will be less-extreme from Ohio on eastward.
While the cold will be able to dive deep into the Midwest, most of the Northeast coast will be protected from having the same chilly afternoons.
Related:
"There will be instances, during clear skies and light winds at night, where temperatures can drop to frosty levels prior to Halloween," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"It is possible that the lowest temperatures of the season so far at night occur during the last weekend of October under just those conditions," Sosnowski said.
This means that some areas which have not experienced a frost or killing freeze just yet could have just that well before any big blast of cold air sweeps in during November.
Much colder air is forecast to build over central Canada toward the end of October.
"However, the speed at which this air empties southward and turns eastward is questionable at this point," Sosnowski said.
After temperatures generally reach the 60s for the next 9 days in cities like New York City, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., the high temperature trend may fall into the 50s in time for Halloween.
"It's also possible that the step down in temperature holds off until later during the first week of November," Sosnowski said.
Families wait outside of the White House for a trick-or-treat event just before Halloween, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
"Below-average temperatures are much more likely for the North Central states by Halloween versus the mid-Atlantic and New England as the series of storms may tend to hold up that southeastward progression of the cold air," Sosnowski added.
Evening temperatures on Halloween will range greatly across the region. Temperatures could hover in the middle 30s in Minneapolis while falling to near 40 for many cities in the Great Lakes region, like Chicago and Detroit.
When the cold air fully busts through farther to the east, daytime temperatures could be held to no higher than the 40s over much of the Interstate-95 corridor of the Northeast.
With the weather pattern and storm track, it is possible some areas could also be dealing with some cold rain and wet snow for Halloween.
Details will unfold in the coming days.
Download the free AccuWeather app to see the latest forecast for your region. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo