Easter weekend warmup coming to the Northeast
The warmest weather of the spring so far will coincide with Easter weekend across the northeastern United States with widespread temperatures in the 70s and 80s.
This majestic double rainbow formed over the Newport Bridge in Jamestown, Rhode Island, on April 15. It served as a stunning background for the harbor.
There's some good news for warm-weather fans in the Northeast, and it's coming just in time for the Easter holiday weekend, when travel and outdoor plans ramp up, AccuWeather meteorologists say.
A southward dip in the jet stream, which has frequently visited the region in recent weeks, will pull back just enough to allow warmer air to stream in starting late this week and lasting into Easter Sunday.
"Saturday could potentially be the warmest day of the spring so far over much of the I-95 corridor in the mid-Atlantic and New England," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist John Feerick said.
There were a couple of days in late March when temperatures spiked to the levels forecast for this coming Saturday in the mid-Atlantic. Temperatures climbed well into the 70s to the mid-80s. Under the right conditions with plenty of sunshine and no rain, temperatures could match or exceed those levels.
In Boston and southeastern New England, Saturday is looking to be the warmest day of the year so far, Feerick added. Boston peaked at 69 degrees--once around mid-March and again during the first week of April. Temperatures are forecast to climb well into the 70s on Saturday. A few spots may even approach 80 in the Interstate 95 sector of southeastern New England.
The pattern this weekend will offer plenty of opportunities to get outdoors and perhaps take in an Easter egg hunt, some fishing or a walk or jog in the park. Large family gatherings may be able to sprawl outside instead of being cramped in small rooms, like much of the winter season.
As is often the case in spring across the Northeast, a weather battle zone will linger nearby much of the weekend. Most of the time, a front will stall from the eastern Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence Valley with clouds, showers and even a few thunderstorms. Still, even in this wet zone, there will be occasional breaks long enough to get out and enjoy some fresh air for a couple of hours.
From Sunday to Monday, this front is forecast to begin moving to the southeast with more general showers and thunderstorms. On Sunday afternoon, high temperatures over the northern and western tier of the Northeast will be trimmed back to the upper 40s to the mid-50s. Some cooler air will also sneak in from the northeast in eastern New England, with temperatures trending back into the 60s.
A wedge of warm air is likely to linger the longest in the lower part of the mid-Atlantic, where highs in the 70s to the lower 80s are forecast on Easter Sunday before a cooldown arrives on Monday.
Even in the cooler air next week, a return of the painfully cold conditions combined with gusty winds is not in the offing for most areas.
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