Cooler Air and Chance of Rain for Large Portion of Eastern U.S.

It will seemingly flip from summer to fall overnight across the Great Lakes and the Northeast this week. The cooldown will follow on the heels of yet another rash of storms. Here is what you can expect this week across the Great Lakes and into the Northeast.

Storms to Migrate to the Northeast Into Monday

It was a rocky end to the weekend across portions of the Great Lakes and the northeastern U.S. Storm cells packing high winds and heavy rain rocked parts of the region during the late afternoon hours. The storms also marked the end of a warm and muggy period.

New England will be under the gun for the storm action on Monday. Unlike Sunday's activity, these storms are not expected to be particularly severe.

The forecast for cities such as Boston and Portland, Maine, is calling for the chance of isolated storms on Monday. Although the threat of rain could disrupt some outdoor plans, this region could use the moisture as drought concerns grow. Temperatures will hover in the 70s and 80s for New England on Monday.

It will also be a soggy end to the day in places such as Buffalo. This metro area is expecting cloudy skies and rain in the afternoon hours. The clouds will keep the mercury in the upper 60s for a high before falling into the mid 50s overnight. You can expect a breezy day in Buffalo with winds out of the west at 10 to 20 mph.

Residents of the Great Lakes, the Northeast, and New England will see a mass of cooler air to move in behind the storms, translating to a refreshing start to the new work week. While the threat of severe storms will abate a bit as the cooler air becomes more entrenched, lake-effect rain will be a persistent nuisance for some areas of the eastern U.S. The same weather phenomenon that is responsible for the lake-effect snowstorms that mark the winter season will also generate the chance of rain at times.

In addition to the chance of lake effect rain showers, the weather maker will also raise the risk of waterspouts across the Great Lakes on Monday and Tuesday. It is not unusual for waterspouts to pop up during the late summer and early fall months as cooler air begins to circulate over the warm water still in place in the lakes. Swimmers and boaters need to be aware of this threat over the next few days.

How Cool Will it Get?

The question on everyone's minds is how cool will the temperatures get this week? Forecasters are predicting that daily highs will slip below the historical average for all of the Great Lakes, the Northeast, and New England. This will be the case even in the areas that dodge the rain showers.

Record overnight lows could be set in areas that experience clear skies after the sun goes down. Communities located away from the lakes will see the greatest chance of new overnight low records. For instance, the college town of Charlottesville, Virginia, is forecast to see a low of 54 degrees on Wednesday night.

It is not atypical for chilly air to infiltrate the Northeast this time of the year. However, what makes this weather pattern unique is how far south the cooler air will travel. This strong cool front will bring down humidity levels as far as the Gulf Coast and into the Southeast as the week progresses. There is no doubt that this will provide cooling relief to the part of the country that has been grappling with increasingly muggy and miserable conditions as of late.

Summer will be back in the picture by the Labor Day weekend for most of the eastern U.S. The good news is that temperatures should land around historical levels for the end of August and beginning of September, sparing the region another bout of extreme heat.

We will update the Labor Day weekend forecast in the days ahead. Be sure to stay tuned.

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