This weekend, the Northeast will have another round of rain, but high elevations may see snowflakes.
On September 29, in Hoboken, New Jersey, severe rain caused the streets to get flooded, and a person was seen carrying sandbags through the water. (Source: KOAM News)
Weekend Rains in the Northeast
Since late August, every Saturday and Sunday in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic has rained. Other regions have had a few dry weekends but largely miserable conditions for almost two months. Philadelphia and New York City are expecting their third consecutive wet weekend and eighth since late August. It’s not simply miserable. Wet weekend weather has also hampered New England fall foliage tourists. Why is the Northeast in this endless loop? Meteorologists blame the upper atmosphere, where a tenacious weather pattern has allowed storms to sweep the region. “We have these overall patterns that generally last roughly six to eight weeks with storm systems coming through every six to eight days,” explained Mount Holly, New Jersey National Weather Service meteorologist Sarah Johnson to CNN.
Progressive storms move across the country without slowing down or pausing. Johnson says this tendency to target weekends is a coincidence. “If we had been luckier, or unluckier, and (the pattern) started on a Wednesday, we’d have more storms in the middle of the week,” Johnson said. Unfortunately, two systems will deliver damp and dreary weather to the Northeast and mid-Atlantic this weekend. A storm and cold front will cross the Great Lakes on Friday and enter the Northeast by Friday night. On Friday, a storm will form off the mid-Atlantic coast and bring deep moisture to New Jersey, New York, and New England.
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Series of Rain Will Continue
The coastal storm will gain energy by Saturday and become the Northeast’s main weather maker. Rain will continue across the Northeast as the coastal storm strengthens. Some parts of New England will see steady rain and thunderstorms on Saturday. Thunder is most likely in eastern Massachusetts, including Boston. Saturday’s rain is unlikely to create widespread flooding, although numerous downpours may generate ponding on roads or lowlands. Saturday may bring showers to sections of the mid-Atlantic, but it will gradually dry out. Philadelphia will get showers and clouds through Saturday, but Friday will be the wettest. Wet weather is forecast in NYC from Friday to Saturday night. The coastal storm will travel north Saturday night through Sunday, increasing wind speeds along the shore. From late Saturday to Sunday, coastal Massachusetts to Maine will experience 20–30 mph winds. By early Sunday morning, Saturday night temperatures will drop to the 30s or low 40s for much of the Northeast.
Tumbling temperatures could transform rains into snowflakes and a slushy coating of snow Saturday night and Sunday in high-elevation locations like New York’s Adirondack Mountains and Vermont and New Hampshire’s Green and White Mountains. Sunday’s rain will continue across New York and New England before tapering off Sunday night. The storm is expected to pass Monday, allowing the waterlogged region to dry up during the workweek. There are hints of hope that the Northeast will be freed from this dark loop. The Climate Prediction Centre anticipates near-normal Northeast precipitation from October 27 to November 2 or next weekend. Though not dry, this period is unlikely to be too damp. To add to the optimism, meteorologists believe trends like the current one are short-lived. Johnson told CNN that most last six to eight weeks and many regions have already spent six weeks in the gloomy loop, so the end may be near. Not all settings are great, so the streak may continue. “It’s sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less,” Johnson said of pattern lifespan. “We’ve been stuck in this one.”
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