Frost and snowflakes? Season's coolest air so far to settle in Northeast this week
An autumnal chill will settle into the Northeast for the new week, with the season's first widespread threat of a frost, freeze and some snow ahead for some across the interior.
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Northeasterners will be reaching for their fleece and a few hot fall beverages this week, as the coolest air of the season thus far—and even some snowflakes—settles over the region, say AccuWeather meteorologists.
The impending chill, coming behind a strong cold front which will usher in a cool Canadian air mass, will not just impact those out and about looking at fall foliage, but gardeners and those with agricultural interests, as well, as temperatures for many across the interior could flirt with the freezing mark for the first time since the spring.
Gradually turning chillier through the new week
Behind the front, temperatures will lower by a few degrees each day. For many, this will equate to 50s during the day and 30s and lower 40s at night by the middle and end of the new week, the coolest air so far this season.
Even the big cities along the Interstate 95 corridor will struggle to make it into the 60s during the middle and end of the week. This comes just days after temperatures were flirting with the 80-degree mark in the mid-Atlantic states.
While many will enjoy opening their windows during this cooler weather, some may have to turn on the heat. "Residents across parts of the Northeast will face a frost or hard freeze risk depending on location," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.
Initially, a dry air mass and cool breeze can limit areas that can get frost, but the risk can increase later in the week as high pressure moves overhead by Wednesday night and Thursday night and winds subside. Interior parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, upstate New York and New England are most at risk for temperatures to flirt with the freezing mark for a few mornings.
For those with vegetables still in the garden or flowering plants on the porch, precautions may have to be taken to protect those plants over multiple nights. "The chillier conditions will have some staying power across the region later this week," added Buckingham.
The first snowflakes for some?
Typically when the first chill of the fall arrives in the Northeast, the season's first snowflakes aren't far behind. AccuWeather meteorologists say that will be the case this week, as well.
"Some of the higher terrain locations, especially across the Adirondacks and the Green and White Mountains, can experience the first snowflakes of the season on Wednesday and Thursday," said Buckingham.
The possibility of snowflakes will come courtesy of a chilly area of low pressure sweeping south from Canada. It is not out of the question that some higher-elevation residents could awaken to the season's first light coating of snow Thursday morning from northern New York into northern New England. The deeper valleys in the region, however, should stay warm enough for mainly rain showers.
For the rest of the upper Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic and Northeast, dry weather should reign through the week and even into next weekend, worsening drought conditions in some areas.
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