Early week rain, severe storms to end pleasant stretch in northeastern US
As thunderstorms rolled through New York, New York, on August 8, lightning erupted in the sky.
The dry, sunny and fall-like weather experienced in the northeastern United States over the weekend will be replaced by soaking rain, severe thunderstorms and more humid air through Tuesday.
Residents will soon be trading in sunglasses for umbrellas.
"The large area of high pressure that kept much of the Northeast dry and comfortable this past weekend will slowly weaken and move out to sea during the early part of this week," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said.
During Monday night, people from northern New York state to Maine will need the rain gear as pockets of showers and thunderstorms sweep through these areas.
Elsewhere in the Northeast, a slight uptick in humidity and temperatures will signal a change in the weather.
A storm system with more moisture will impact a broader area of the Northeast by Tuesday, according to Gilbert.
This system first set off a round of downpours and severe thunderstorms across part of the Midwest on Monday and Monday night.
The storm will then sweep across the Northeast with heavy rain to the north of its track and severe weather to its south during Tuesday and Tuesday night.
Latest indications point toward the heaviest rain spreading across Pennsylvania and southern New York state to the upper mid-Atlantic coast and southern New England.
Within this zone, soaking and beneficial rain will fall. However, in the metro areas, street and highway flooding with substantial travel disruptions can be anticipated.
Parts of the I-95 corridor dealt with flooding downpours around the middle of last week.
Even in the absence of flooding, motorists may face slower-than-normal travel as rain reduces visibility on the roadways and creates a heightened risk of vehicles hydroplaning at highway speeds. These hazards can be experienced on stretches of interstates 70, 80, 81, 90 and 95.
"We will also have to keep an eye out for the possibility of severe weather, mainly strong wind gusts," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alyson Hoegg said. However, there is the possibility of isolated tornadoes as well.
The greatest risk for severe thunderstorms will focus on areas where heat and humidity have had a chance to build up.
High temperatures soaring into the upper 80s to middle 90s F from New Jersey to the Chesapeake Bay region and westward to Kentucky and northern Tennessee may leave this corridor most susceptible to violent thunderstorms later Tuesday.
Tuesday's severe weather threat zone includes Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia. It may extend as far north as New York City.
Download the free AccuWeather app to know exactly when rain is expected to return to your area, as well as . Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
