Drastic cold shot to make Americans shiver in eastern US during 1st weekend of spring
By
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Mar 17, 2020 6:42 PM EDT
As a major storm wraps up across the north-central United States, a swath of colder and drier air will sweep in as the week ends and the weekend begins, marking an end to record-challenging warmth that will have taken hold in the East and severe weather expected to rattle the Midwest and South.
The colder air will first arrive across the Midwest on Friday, squashing the severe threat in areas that have the potential to get hit hard on Thursday and Thursday evening.
By Friday morning, the leading edge of the colder air and end of the severe weather risk is likely to extend from Ohio to western Tennessee and central Texas.
"South of this area, especially from the southern Appalachians to the lower part of the Mississippi Valley and Mississippi Delta region, as well as northeastern Texas, there will be the potential for heavy, gusty and perhaps severe thunderstorms on Friday," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda said.
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Friday's storms may be the surviving remnants of severe weather that is predicted to hammer the southern Plains to the mid-Mississippi Valley on Thursday evening.
"At the very least, there will be the potential for storms capable of causing flash flooding and strong wind gusts, which can hinder travel Friday," Sojda said.
Downpours, along with thunder, lightning and perhaps gusty winds can also extend ahead of the push of colder air over the central and northern Appalachians as well as parts of the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts by the late afternoon and evening.
By the weekend, the press of cold air will reduce the risk of severe weather, even in the Deep South.
The push of cold air itself will be quite a shock after the surge of warmth from Wednesday to Friday.
Temperatures will be slashed by 20-50 degrees Fahrenheit from the peak of the warmth to the bottom of the chill in the coming days.
For example, in St. Louis, following a high in the lower 70s on Thursday with the potential for severe thunderstorms, temperatures will plunge during the day on Friday and wind up around 30 by Saturday morning.
In Nashville, Tennessee, the risk of storms will end on Friday. A high on Friday in the lower to middle 70s will be swapped with a high in the lower to middle 50s on Saturday.
East of the Appalachians, the cooldown will be a bit more gradual and tempered somewhat by the nature of air flowing downhill from the Appalachians and warming up just a tad.
However, even in New York City, high temperatures in the middle 70s on Friday will be exchanged with a high near 50 on Saturday and then the middle 40s on Sunday.
People in New Orleans and Atlanta will also feel the change. Following highs in the middle 80s and the middle to upper 70s, respectively, on Friday, highs are projected to be around 10 degrees lower on Saturday.
Since the push of cold air is likely to stall along the Interstate 10 corridor this weekend, the area near the upper Gulf Coast is likely to remain wet and unsettled.
Downpours may repeat in this part of the Deep South to the point where there is the risk of flooding.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Weather Forecasts
Drastic cold shot to make Americans shiver in eastern US during 1st weekend of spring
By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Mar 17, 2020 6:42 PM EDT
As a major storm wraps up across the north-central United States, a swath of colder and drier air will sweep in as the week ends and the weekend begins, marking an end to record-challenging warmth that will have taken hold in the East and severe weather expected to rattle the Midwest and South.
The colder air will first arrive across the Midwest on Friday, squashing the severe threat in areas that have the potential to get hit hard on Thursday and Thursday evening.
By Friday morning, the leading edge of the colder air and end of the severe weather risk is likely to extend from Ohio to western Tennessee and central Texas.
"South of this area, especially from the southern Appalachians to the lower part of the Mississippi Valley and Mississippi Delta region, as well as northeastern Texas, there will be the potential for heavy, gusty and perhaps severe thunderstorms on Friday," AccuWeather Meteorologist Jake Sojda said.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Friday's storms may be the surviving remnants of severe weather that is predicted to hammer the southern Plains to the mid-Mississippi Valley on Thursday evening.
"At the very least, there will be the potential for storms capable of causing flash flooding and strong wind gusts, which can hinder travel Friday," Sojda said.
Downpours, along with thunder, lightning and perhaps gusty winds can also extend ahead of the push of colder air over the central and northern Appalachians as well as parts of the mid-Atlantic and New England coasts by the late afternoon and evening.
By the weekend, the press of cold air will reduce the risk of severe weather, even in the Deep South.
The push of cold air itself will be quite a shock after the surge of warmth from Wednesday to Friday.
Temperatures will be slashed by 20-50 degrees Fahrenheit from the peak of the warmth to the bottom of the chill in the coming days.
For example, in St. Louis, following a high in the lower 70s on Thursday with the potential for severe thunderstorms, temperatures will plunge during the day on Friday and wind up around 30 by Saturday morning.
Related:
In Nashville, Tennessee, the risk of storms will end on Friday. A high on Friday in the lower to middle 70s will be swapped with a high in the lower to middle 50s on Saturday.
East of the Appalachians, the cooldown will be a bit more gradual and tempered somewhat by the nature of air flowing downhill from the Appalachians and warming up just a tad.
However, even in New York City, high temperatures in the middle 70s on Friday will be exchanged with a high near 50 on Saturday and then the middle 40s on Sunday.
People in New Orleans and Atlanta will also feel the change. Following highs in the middle 80s and the middle to upper 70s, respectively, on Friday, highs are projected to be around 10 degrees lower on Saturday.
Since the push of cold air is likely to stall along the Interstate 10 corridor this weekend, the area near the upper Gulf Coast is likely to remain wet and unsettled.
Downpours may repeat in this part of the Deep South to the point where there is the risk of flooding.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo