East Coast faces severe weather, frost in wild week of weather
AccuWeather forecasters say the Northeast will likely miss out on much-needed rain as showers and thunderstorms target the mid-Atlantic and Southeast states this week.
Spring is known for causing topsy-turvy weather patterns across the United States, including the return of summerlike warmth, lingering snow, flooding and dry spells. This week will be no exception for the East Coast, AccuWeather forecasters warn. It will start with summerlike warmth, but there will be stark contrast in conditions across the region as the week unfolds.
Southeast faces severe weather risk, downpours
"A series of storms moving from the central Plains to the mid-Atlantic during the first half of this week will bring rounds of showers and thunderstorms from Missouri and Virginia on southward to the Gulf of Mexico," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Benz.
As one storm crosses the central Appalachians, it produced severe weather into Tuesday evening. Severe weather already began Tuesday afternoon in Kentucky, with a reported tornado touching down in Magoffin County in the eastern portion of the state. WKYT News later reported that there were no damage reports in the county. In the Memphis area, a power outage related to severe weather knocked out more than 11,000 customers late Tuesday afternoon.
Drier weather is likely to settle into the Ohio Valley by later in the day Wednesday then arrive in the mid-Atlantic and the Southeast on Thursday. Showers may linger across parts of the Southeast coast into late week, but most areas will likely be rain-free until the weekend.
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Mainly dry, warm across the Northeast
The same dry air that limits rainfall into the drought areas in the Northeast is likely to provide generally dry conditions across the Northeast this week.
A reinforced push of dry, cool air, will drop temperatures briefly at midweek. Instead of the high temperatures that were well into the 80s for New York City and Philadelphia last week, the thermometer readings will struggle to reach the upper 60s Wednesday and Thursday.
On Wednesday night, the cool air will settle in, and temperatures could dip near or below 32 F across the Northeast, bringing the risk for a frost or freeze.
The dry air promoting the cooldown will also bring another risk for the region: fires.
"Recent dry weather and a very dry air mass will continue to set the stage for an elevated fire risk across parts of the Northeast," explained Benz.
This will be especially true during the first half of the week, as a gusty breeze will threaten to make any spark spread more quickly.
"Although many areas have started to green up, higher elevations continue to lag with the abundance of green vegetation. Even at lower elevations, standing dead grass and brush from last year can still provide fuel for fires," Benz warned.
The conditions look especially primed for this risk, with some dry vegetation, dry air and a gusty breeze expected across southern New York and into southern New England through Wednesday.
Winds are expected to lessen as the week progresses as another strong area of high pressure takes over. The chilly air that lingers into Thursday will likely dissipate by week's end, promoting another warmup across the Northeast.
"Milder conditions are likely to return to the Northeast by the end of the week, thanks to prolonged sunshine and a southerly flow," said Benz. At this time, afternoon temperature readings are not likely to return to the abnormally high levels of late last week.
Temperatures are expected to be near the historical average for the second half of May in the Northeast on Friday, with high temperatures ranging from the middle 70s in Washington, D.C., to the middle 60s in Boston.
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