Rain to accompany unseasonable warmth across eastern US late this week

Temperatures will be on the rise for the second half of this week in the East, but so will the opportunity for clouds and rain.

A cold front is forecast to push across the region Thursday and Friday, bringing clouds, showers and even a steadier rain to some places.

“Rain is expected to spread across the Ohio Valley on Thursday and then expand into parts of the Northeast Thursday night into Friday morning,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Carl Erickson said.

This rain will follow in the wake of showers that will move through Wednesday and Wednesday night that will dampen the region. However, the latter event will bring heavier and more widespread rain.

The heaviest rain will likely focus on the Ohio Valley to central Appalachians Thursday night where 0.5 to 1 inch of rain is expected, although there could be isolated amounts up to 1.50 inches. Any low-lying or poor drainage areas will be susceptible to minor flooding.

Rain will progress farther east by Friday morning, bringing a damp and dreary start to the day in the Interstate 95 corridor, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Folks heading out for work or other daily activities will want to grab an umbrella. Minor travel delays could also occur, so extra time may be needed for those traveling.

A surge of warmth ahead of the cold front will help keep the threat for disruptive snow and ice away from the East through the end of the week.

“This springlike surge of warmth will send temperatures 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit above average Thursday and Thursday night,” Erickson said.

High temperatures on Thursday will be in the 50s and 60s across the Ohio Valley to southern New England. Temperatures will climb into the 70s across the mid-Atlantic.

However, the round of mild conditions will be short-lived.

“As the cold front sweeps through the Northeast Friday, temperatures will plummet through the day,” Erickson said.

This blast of cold air could allow some wet snow to mix in as precipitation comes to an end from West Virginia to upstate New York and New England. Any accumulation would be confined to the higher terrain.

While Saturday will be a chillier day in the wake of the cold front, temperatures will drop to only near-normal levels for mid-February. High pressure will build in across the Northeast and promote dry weather with some sunshine.

However, farther south, it will be a different story. The cold front is expected to slow and eventually stall across the Southeast on Saturday. This will cause cloudy and rainy conditions as the weekend begins.

A milder pattern is expected to return next week across much of the East.

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