How Lee will play a role in weather across the Northeast
When Lee makes landfall on Saturday, it’s going to bring threats of coastal flooding, tropical storm-force winds and more from Rhode Island to New Brunswick.
In conjunction with high pressure from Canada, the large circulation of Lee is helping to create some delightful autumn conditions in a large part of the eastern United States away from the direct effects of the storm this weekend, AccuWeather meteorologists say.
Lee will continue to create rough and dangerous surf along much of the Atlantic shoreline into Sunday. More substantial, dangerous and forceful impacts will be confined to eastern New England as Lee spins ashore in the Canadian Maritimes.
Even though fall does not officially begin until the autumnal equinox next Saturday, it will feel like the cooler weather of the seasonal shift has arrived a bit early and taken root with golden warm sunshine in many areas by day and a hint of the weeks to come at night.
High school, college and pro football seasons have gotten underway, and the weather this weekend from parts of the Midwest to the interior Northeast and part of the Southwest states will feel appropriate for the third week of September. Those thinking about a fire in the hearth, mums and pumpkin spice lattes should feel at home. Those traveling during the late-night and early morning hours to area games and other activities may encounter fog, which is a common occurrence this time of the year.
While there have been some brief dips in temperature since late August, the pattern over the next few days will bring the most consistent low humidity and, in some cases, the coolest conditions since last spring.
In New York City, temperatures dipped to 61 F on Sept. 1. However, the period from Sept. 3-13 delivered more sticky nights with lows ranging from the upper 60s to the upper 70s. The historical average for low temperatures in the middle of September is in the lower 60s.
Temperatures may require some New Yorkers and visitors to the Big Apple to don a jacket for the evening and early morning hours through this weekend. A breeze generated by Lee will add to the autumn-style coolness through Saturday. Daytime highs in New York City through the weekend will be in the 70s.
For Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., through this weekend all the benefits of the Canadian air will bring little wind, low humidity, pleasantly warm days and cool nights. Daytime temperatures will range from the upper 70s to the low 80s.
In the central Appalachians to the eastern Great Lakes region, highs will be within a few degrees of 70 through the weekend with nighttime lows ranging from the upper 30s in the chilly spots to the upper 40s to the lower 50s in valleys and cities.
Farther south, the same level of coolness is in store for cities such as Charlotte and Atlanta. Much of the Southeast has experienced a quite hot and humid second half of the summer. The weather at hand into this weekend will provide a welcomed break for many. Temperatures have not dipped below 66 in Atlanta since June, while Charlotte's lowest temperature since June was 60 in early September. Overnight temperatures in both cities will likely drop within a few degrees of these values this weekend.
High temperatures in much of Virginia, the Carolinas and northern Georgia, away from the mountains, will be in the low to mid-80s through this weekend. To put that into perspective, the historical average high for Atlanta is in the mid-80s with nighttime lows in the mid-60s.
In the southern Appalachians, highs will be in the mid- to upper 70s.
In areas that experience flooding and damage from Lee in New England during the first part of the weekend, improving conditions are in store for storm cleanup on Sunday.
As cooler and drier conditions settle over much of the East, a zone near the Gulf coast will remain warm, humid, wet and thundery at times.
Looking ahead, cool breezes and rough conditions in the surf zone will subside as Lee races away from Atlantic Canada early next week. However, an approaching low-pressure area and trailing front will bring an uptick in humidity with clouds, showers and spotty thunderstorms from west to east over the eastern third spanning Sunday and Monday. This low could bring a round of heavier rainfall to parts of New England prior to the middle of the week.
AccuWeather meteorologists will be watching yet another tropical system over the Atlantic for development and a track close enough to the East Coast to bring a new round of rough seas and building surf later next week into the following weekend. That system is expected to take a path near Bermuda around the middle of the week.
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