Warmth and lack of rain to worsen growing drought in Northeast
Several areas of the country could endure weather-related travel delays on Oct. 21.
Following a wet beginning to August in much of the Northeast, precipitation has been well below the historical average due to extended stretches of dry weather. Some locations are on pace for their driest October on record, and potentially even their driest all-time month.
Drought, which rapidly expanded in Ohio and West Virginia late in the summer, has now stretched into the Northeast. While the drought is not as bad as areas farther west, portions of the region are now in moderate to severe drought.
Temperatures above the historical average have exacerbated the drought. Despite some frosty mornings over the interior Northeast, the dryness of both the air and the ground has led to warm afternoons. When the ground is dry, less of the sun's energy is used up evaporating moisture and allows for more efficient heating of the air.
On Monday, temperatures challenged daily record highs, while some were broken. For example, Boston, Massachusetts set a new daily record high of 83 degrees Fahrenheit, which broke the previous record of 82 F set in 1920.
While record highs largely were restricted to the Northeast Monday, much of the region from the Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley remained in a warm pattern. Widespread high temperatures in the 70s and 80s F are expected on Tuesday. As the warmth expands, locations outside of the Northeast Tuesday will have a better chance at tying or breaking records.
With temperatures generally trending downward during this time of year, temperatures that are typical in the summer can tie or break records. Even if temperatures fall just short of records, it will certainly feel more like the end of summer than the middle of fall.
The lack of rain in the Northeast has been rather remarkable. New York City and Wilmington, Delaware, are just two cities where only a trace of rain has fallen for the entire month of October so far. In Philadelphia, not a single drop of rain has fallen this month. This has also been the case farther to the south.
A chance for rain will arrive with a cold front by Wednesday and Wednesday night, but most of the rain will be confined to interior New England and miss places like Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The rainfall may be highly spotty in nature. Even where it does rain, there will not be much.
There will be a chance for spotty rain to reach the coast of northern New England on Thursday before the moisture moves away. South of there, the only noticeable effect on Thursday will be temperatures lower than earlier in the week.
The lower temperatures will put a fall feel back into the air. Although the recent chilly nights and some episodes of wind have knocked many leaves off the trees in northern areas, locations farther to the south still have some nice colors. That being said, even in more southern locations, some trees have shed their leaves early due to the drought.
For anyone who is still not quite ready for warmth to end, there is good news. The chill of late this week is again expected to be replaced by higher temperatures next weekend. That said, temperatures are not forecast to be quite as high as this weekend.
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