Weather whiplash in Northeast will be 'quite a shock’
By
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 1, 2019 3:26 PM EDT
A change in the weather pattern will soon lead to progressively more vigorous bursts of cool air, while warm episodes will be less frequent and not as extreme as recent weeks in the northeastern United States.
The pattern will end up being more typical of mid-October, rather than the middle of August, and can even lead to a touch of snow in the coldest spots.
A large area of high pressure at most levels of the atmosphere - a culprit behind the enduring summer weather - has extended from the western Atlantic to the south-central U.S. and been very dominant during much of September.
The pattern this year is much different than that of last year. Recall that many locations were excessively wet last September. This September has been just the opposite.
The summery weather has been entrenched over the Southern states, but has surged northward at times in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, 25 different cities set daily record-high temperatures in the region, led Cincinnati, Ohio, and Huntingdon, West Virginia, which both reached 95 F. Altoona, Pennsylvania, had a previous daily high of 82 F but reached 90 F on Tuesday, also setting a record-high for the entire month of October in the process.
"At least three dozen major airport locations set or tied October high temperature records on Tuesday throughout the eastern U.S.," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell.
More record high temperatures fell on Wednesday from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia and New York City, where temperatures surged into the 90s.
This high pressure area will get chopped down substantially late this week, rendering record-challenging highs a thing of the past from the Ohio Valley to the mid-Atlantic.
Taking its place will be a jet stream pattern that is likely to have a west-to-east configuration with occasional southward wiggles across the central and northern states.
One of these southward dips will allow much cooler air to push much farther south than in recent weeks when only the northern tier has been enveloped in crisp, fall weather.
However, the main southward surge will have to wait until a fast-moving storm moves by on Thursday. That storm system is forecast to bring areas of rain near and north of its track and spotty thunderstorms farther south.
As that storm begins to pull away late Thursday night and Friday morning, rain may mix with or change to a bit of snow over the mountains of northern New York state and New England.
The burst of cool air will be "quite a shock," according to Paul Pastelok, AccuWeather's lead long-range forecaster. When comparing highs from the peak of the heat this week to the late-night and early-morning lows this weekend, some locations will experience a 50-degree-Fahrenheit swing.
Throw in some wind and cloudy intervals, and AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will plunge 50-60 degrees.
It should feel like football weather for Friday night and Saturday games. Fans that donned short sleeves earlier this week should consider trading with long sleeves, long pants, jackets and sweatshirts.
Instead of temperatures hovering between 10-20 degrees above average, temperatures are likely to dip to 5-15 degrees below average starting this weekend.
However, quite the contrast will be set up across the region. Morning low temperature will range from the frosty middle 20s over northern New York state to near 60 in southeastern Virginia this weekend. Highs will range from the middle to upper 40s over the northern tier to the lower 70s in southeastern Virginia.
While this will not be the first frost or freeze for the colder northern tier locations, there will be the risk of frost farther south than has occurred thus far this season.
Frost could grip parts of West Virginia and western Maryland to western and northern Pennsylvania, much of western and central New York state, part of northwestern New Jersey and central and northern New England during Friday night.
The frost may help to knock down the area bug population. The colder weather will be welcome news as public health officials throughout the country have been cautioning against the rise of a rare mosquito-borne virus known as East Equine Encephalitis (EEE) that has produced an abnormally high number of deaths this year.
The upcoming chilly spell could also help allergy sufferers by helping to reduce pollen levels.
Temperatures may climb a bit on Sunday, compared to Friday and Saturday.
This temperature rebound will be ahead of another dose of cool air that is forecast to gather over central Canada for next week.
That push of cool air may meet some resistance from the Appalachians to the Atlantic coast and may be accompanied by a dose of soaking rain from late this weekend to early next week that could last a full day or a bit more in some locations.
Only if a tropical system, which has not yet formed, interacts and moves northward might more rain fall later next week.
Download the free AccuWeather app to receive the latest forecasts and frost-related advisories. 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
Weather whiplash in Northeast will be 'quite a shock’
By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Oct 1, 2019 3:26 PM EDT
A change in the weather pattern will soon lead to progressively more vigorous bursts of cool air, while warm episodes will be less frequent and not as extreme as recent weeks in the northeastern United States.
The pattern will end up being more typical of mid-October, rather than the middle of August, and can even lead to a touch of snow in the coldest spots.
A large area of high pressure at most levels of the atmosphere - a culprit behind the enduring summer weather - has extended from the western Atlantic to the south-central U.S. and been very dominant during much of September.
The pattern this year is much different than that of last year. Recall that many locations were excessively wet last September. This September has been just the opposite.
The summery weather has been entrenched over the Southern states, but has surged northward at times in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, 25 different cities set daily record-high temperatures in the region, led Cincinnati, Ohio, and Huntingdon, West Virginia, which both reached 95 F. Altoona, Pennsylvania, had a previous daily high of 82 F but reached 90 F on Tuesday, also setting a record-high for the entire month of October in the process.
"At least three dozen major airport locations set or tied October high temperature records on Tuesday throughout the eastern U.S.," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell.
More record high temperatures fell on Wednesday from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia and New York City, where temperatures surged into the 90s.
This high pressure area will get chopped down substantially late this week, rendering record-challenging highs a thing of the past from the Ohio Valley to the mid-Atlantic.
Taking its place will be a jet stream pattern that is likely to have a west-to-east configuration with occasional southward wiggles across the central and northern states.
One of these southward dips will allow much cooler air to push much farther south than in recent weeks when only the northern tier has been enveloped in crisp, fall weather.
However, the main southward surge will have to wait until a fast-moving storm moves by on Thursday. That storm system is forecast to bring areas of rain near and north of its track and spotty thunderstorms farther south.
As that storm begins to pull away late Thursday night and Friday morning, rain may mix with or change to a bit of snow over the mountains of northern New York state and New England.
The burst of cool air will be "quite a shock," according to Paul Pastelok, AccuWeather's lead long-range forecaster. When comparing highs from the peak of the heat this week to the late-night and early-morning lows this weekend, some locations will experience a 50-degree-Fahrenheit swing.
Throw in some wind and cloudy intervals, and AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will plunge 50-60 degrees.
It should feel like football weather for Friday night and Saturday games. Fans that donned short sleeves earlier this week should consider trading with long sleeves, long pants, jackets and sweatshirts.
Instead of temperatures hovering between 10-20 degrees above average, temperatures are likely to dip to 5-15 degrees below average starting this weekend.
Related:
However, quite the contrast will be set up across the region. Morning low temperature will range from the frosty middle 20s over northern New York state to near 60 in southeastern Virginia this weekend. Highs will range from the middle to upper 40s over the northern tier to the lower 70s in southeastern Virginia.
While this will not be the first frost or freeze for the colder northern tier locations, there will be the risk of frost farther south than has occurred thus far this season.
Frost could grip parts of West Virginia and western Maryland to western and northern Pennsylvania, much of western and central New York state, part of northwestern New Jersey and central and northern New England during Friday night.
The frost may help to knock down the area bug population. The colder weather will be welcome news as public health officials throughout the country have been cautioning against the rise of a rare mosquito-borne virus known as East Equine Encephalitis (EEE) that has produced an abnormally high number of deaths this year.
The upcoming chilly spell could also help allergy sufferers by helping to reduce pollen levels.
Temperatures may climb a bit on Sunday, compared to Friday and Saturday.
This temperature rebound will be ahead of another dose of cool air that is forecast to gather over central Canada for next week.
That push of cool air may meet some resistance from the Appalachians to the Atlantic coast and may be accompanied by a dose of soaking rain from late this weekend to early next week that could last a full day or a bit more in some locations.
Only if a tropical system, which has not yet formed, interacts and moves northward might more rain fall later next week.
Download the free AccuWeather app to receive the latest forecasts and frost-related advisories. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo