Mother Nature to turn up the heat across parts of Northeast, Midwest
People vacationing on Long Beach Island were prepared for storms on June 16, but they say what happened was “way worse” than they expected.
AccuWeather forecasters say that a change in the weather pattern will occur in the coming days across portions of the Northeast and Great Lakes that will allow warmth to build in some locations.
A feature bringing damp weather to parts of northern New England gradually tracked eastward away from the coast on Sunday, giving residents a reprieve from the recent rain and thunderstorms. Meteorologists say that another feature will slowly build southward from Canada and take its place.
"As a storm departs into the Atlantic to start this week, high pressure will move back in from Canada. This zone of high pressure will tend to dominate the pattern for much of the week as a sprawling disturbance settles across the southeastern United States, leading to several days of generally dry conditions," explained AccuWeather Meteorologist La Troy Thornton.
Will heat reach the I-95 corridor?
In addition to drier weather for most across the mid-Atlantic states and New England, temperatures are expected to trend a few degrees higher Monday as the high pressure takes over and pushes westward over the Great Lakes. Locations such as Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., are forecast to have temperatures climb into the mid-80s to near 90s Fahrenheit for Monday — roughly 3–6 degrees above the historical averages for mid-June.
Residents in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Maryland, and a few locations in northern Virginia could even approach the 90-degree mark on Monday as this pattern takes hold of the region. If this occurs, this will mark the second time this month that Baltimore-Washington International Airport records a 90-degree day, following the new daily record high temperature of 97 F that was reached back on June 2.
However, conditions will not be as warm by Tuesday in both Philadelphia and the nation's capital, as daytime temperatures are expected only to reach the lower 80s F. Even spots farther south around Charlotte and Durham, North Carolina, will notice a cooling trend by Tuesday, transitioning from the 80s F to the mid-70s F as the controlling feature of high pressure nudges westward.
High pressure to expand over the Great Lakes
Throughout this week, drier and noticeably warmer conditions will be the central theme from the Dakotas to parts of northern New York on eastward to Maine. While many locations will climb into the middle to upper 80s F for most of the week, a swath of the Midwest could observe multiple days reaching into the lower 90s F as Mother Nature's thermostat is cranked up.
"A wide swath of territory could be in line for substantial warmth, with temperatures likely approaching 90 F in places such as Lansing, Michigan, from Tuesday to at least Thursday and highs around 90 F possibly even reaching Bangor, Maine, Thursday and Friday," Thornton said.
Thornton added that historical average high temperatures are right around 80 F in Lansing this time of year and only in the mid-70s F in Bangor. The upcoming temperatures represent values well above both cities' highest historical averages.
A northward bulge in the jet stream will linger over the Great Lakes throughout much of the week, AccuWeather forecasters say. This pattern indicates that this summer warmup will stay for several days as high pressure remains locked over the region.
Re-emergence of wildfire smoke across the Midwest, Northeast
In addition to the warmth building across the Midwest and the interior Northeast, forecasters are concerned that this pattern could circulate wildfire smoke and hazy skies southward from Ontario and Quebec, Canada. As steering winds churn clockwise around the zone of high pressure and pull areas of smoke southward into Michigan and portions of northern New York, the results could range from hazy sunshine to reductions in both air quality and visibility.
On Saturday, hazy skies were observed across much of the Northeast and the Ohio Valley as upper-level smoke spread across the region. As a result, unhealthy air quality levels were recorded in cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
Forecasters say that hazy sunshine may even be noticed this week in portions of the upper Ohio Valley and parts of the mid-Atlantic region.
Looking ahead to late June
AccuWeather long-range forecasters have been closely monitoring how the weather pattern will trend by the end of the month, stating that the dome of high pressure about to grip the Midwest will likely hold on through next weekend. Additional days without rainfall in this region will only worsen drought conditions. Currently, parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio are facing moderate to severe drought levels, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
By the end of the month, storms could begin to ramp up across the Plains and Midwest, bringing a much-needed return of moisture. A pattern featuring cold fronts swinging southward from central Canada into the East Coast could even bring storms to the Northeast during the last week of June.
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