Warm, cool air to battle over northeastern US into the weekend
The northeastern United States will be a battleground between chilly air from eastern Canada and warm air trying to push north from the southern U.S. through the end of the week.
Heat continued to build across the Northeast Wednesday afternoon as a cold front approached from the northwest.
Highs ranged from the middle 80s to the upper 90s across the region, but it felt even warmer with AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures exceeding the century mark in spots.
Temperatures over much of the central Appalachians, mid-Atlantic and southern New England reached 5-15 degrees above average on Wednesday.
During the middle of September, highs typically range from the upper 60s in northern Maine to the middle 80s in southeastern Virginia.
Although warm and rain-free conditions won out across the mid-Atlantic during the day on Wednesday, a couple of showers and thunderstorms sneaked into the area Wednesday night.
A cooler air mass from eastern Canada is expected to push into northern areas on Thursday in the wake of the storm system that triggered those storms.
“Many residents across New England will need a jacket in the morning as a cool, northerly breeze will send temperatures into the 40s and 50s,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.
An area of showers and thunderstorms across Pennsylvania and New Jersey will be the dividing line between the cooler air to the north and warm and humid air still lingering across Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.
South of the Mason-Dixon Line, high temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s will remain common on Thursday.
"The cooler, more stable air mass will continue to advance southward on Friday, however, as fall-like temperatures spread into the I-95 corridor and mid-Atlantic," according to Buckingham.
The most dramatic change is expected in areas around Baltimore and Washington, D.C., where high temperatures are forecast to climb into the lower to middle 90s on Thursday. On Friday, highs will struggle to reach the middle 70s.
The joust between warm and cool air over the Northeast will continue through this weekend, and the winner will be determined by the storm system moving through the Midwest on Thursday.
The storm looks to move across the region over the weekend and drag a cold front through the mid-Atlantic. This will open the door for another round of cool air, keeping fall-like temperatures over the Northeast.
However, if the front gets hung up north of the mid-Atlantic states, cooler air may struggle to make it into the region.
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