After a nice start, Northeast to end up rainy, chilly later this week
The turbulent nature of spring will be on display this week in the Northeast, with wild temperature swings, soggy weather and even snow on tap into the start of May.
Ben Butler, manager of Butler’s Orchard Farm in Germantown, Maryland, shares the impact made to his agriculture business as a result of the recent spring freeze.
The roller coaster weather pattern the Northeast has experienced as of late shows no signs of ebbing to end April and start May, as a relatively warm start this week will give way to a prolonged rainy and chilly pattern starting midweek, say AccuWeather meteorologists.
The wet weather will be welcome by some due to ongoing drought from the mid-Atlantic states to Maine, but it will be a nuisance to many hoping to get outdoors more as the calendar turns to May. Instead, they will have to contend not only with rain but even the chance of some very late-season high-elevation snow and frosts and freezes that can delay the planting of gardens and crops.
Tulips are pictured at Understory Farm, Monday, April 20, 2026, in Bridport, Vt. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
"Temperature-wise, the air mass arriving starting later this week in the Northeast is more typical of late March and early April," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tyler Roys. "The chill could have staying power and last into the first full week of May."
A nice Tuesday for some
Following a damp and relatively cool weekend, a tease of nicer weather occurred across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast to start the workweek.
Temperatures mostly in the 50s Fahrenheit and lower 60s Sunday rebounded into the upper 60s and 70s for most areas away from the coast Monday amid more sunshine.
An area of high pressure building into the region was responsible for the change in the weather, helping to erase the low cloudiness that plagued the final weekend of April for many. However, the high will begin to slide offshore on Tuesday.
The clockwise flow around the high pressure system will keep most beach locales and coastal cities, such as Boston and Atlantic City, New Jersey, on the cooler side. This is because the wind will be blowing onshore and ocean water temperatures will only be in the 40s and lower 50s.
For much of the Interstate 95 corridor and coastal plain from Philadelphia on north and east, it will be nice again Tuesday, but signs of change will start to appear to the west. Rain showers will arrive from the Appalachians through upstate New York with some thunderstorms in northern parts of the Ohio Valley.
An offshore storm could even bring a few showers to parts of southern and eastern New England by Tuesday night, as clouds increase from the west along much of the immediate East Coast.
A soggy Wednesday from a storm that will linger
Wednesday will take a turn toward the wet side as a storm moves in from the Midwest, and according to AccuWeather meteorologists, it will be in no hurry to leave.
"The rain that is forecast to fall in the mid- to late week period for the Northeast and New England is going to be a good, soaking rain for many," said Roys. "This will be beneficial in the short term, as much of the area could measure between a half inch and one inch of rain."
According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor released on Thursday, over 58 percent of the 12-state (and District of Columbia) Northeast climate region from West Virginia, D.C. and Maryland on north are at least abnormally dry with 42 percent in drought conditions. This is mostly concentrated in areas east of the Appalachians from Pennsylvania on north, but includes most of the area south of the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, where drought was most intense.
A round of much-needed rain moved through Saturday, but a lot more will be needed in many areas to end the drought. Since the start of the year through April 25, most of the area highlighted on the Monitor are about 3-5 inches of precipitation below the historical average.
The steadiest and locally heavy rain will fall in the Wednesday through Wednesday night time frame as the storm moves by. In some low-lying and poor-drainage areas, there could be localized flooding that will slow commutes during the middle of the week.
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The same area of high pressure that brought the nice weather to start the week will actually doom the Northeast from enjoying any more of it beginning later in the week. It will set up shop offshore in the North Atlantic and act as a roadblock, allowing the midweek storm to linger into late week across New England.
In addition, chillier air arriving behind the storm via gusty north and northwesterly winds will drop temperatures to 5-15 degrees below historical averages in most areas for the second half of the week through at least the first weekend of May. Combined with lingering moisture over New England, there could even be some very late-season snow in the mountains of northern New England and the Adirondacks of northern New York.
"The chillier conditions could also result in another significant and widespread frost or freeze event across parts of Michigan and interior western New York, where the growing season was just getting started," warned Roys.
Last week, a significant freeze event damaged crops in the mid-Atlantic states from Virginia and West Virginia north to Pennsylvania. Many of these areas appear to either be too cloudy or not cold enough for a repeat later this week.
Beyond the weekend, temperatures may rise again briefly in the Northeast, but AccuWeather's team of long-range forecasters expect the first half of May to largely be on the cooler side compared to average in much of the region.
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