Short-lived burst of mild weather in the Northeast; rain to return by midweek

AccuWeather forecasters are telling Northeast residents to enjoy the climbing temperatures and mild weather early this week, because wetter conditions are projected to return to the region by Wednesday.

Following a rather damp and dreary pattern across the Northeast over the previous week, AccuWeather meteorologists say that a shift in the pattern is already underway. The return of milder and drier weather may be openly welcomed by many residents from the mid-Atlantic states to New England after the snowy, chilly and rainy stretch that spanned across numerous states last week.

A burst of milder weather early week

Some locations across the Ohio Valley into the mid-Atlantic coast reported between 2-4 inches of rain last week, with some areas noting locally higher totals upwards of 5 inches. Farther north from the Great Lakes to Maine, the storm last week ushered in a hefty swath of travel-disrupting snow.

Drier conditions will continue to expand across portions of the Northeast early this week as high pressure builds over southeastern Canada and the eastern United States.

"The nor’easter this past week was part of a larger pattern known as an omega block, where you have a trough of low pressure in the western and eastern U.S. with a ridge of high pressure over the central U.S. This creates the shape of the Greek letter omega if you’re looking at a map of the jet stream," explained AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Benz.

Benz added that this pattern will break down quickly for the Northeast into Monday, allowing for high pressure to dominate the pattern in the region and promote much warmer conditions than the first week of April.

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Daytime temperatures will rise into the 70s Fahrenheit across the mid-Atlantic region by Tuesday for some, a stark difference from the highs in the 40s observed in places last week and roughly 10-15 degrees above the historical average for early April.

Cities like Philadelphia and New York City are among some locations projected to reach the middle to upper 70s on Tuesday. High temperatures in Washington, D.C., could even linger in the 70s into Wednesday.

Residents will gain an opportunity to enjoy some time outdoors into Tuesday, whether that involves visiting a local park, going for a walk or other activities such as fishing, springtime garden preparations and yard cleanup.

How long will the mild conditions linger across the East this week? For some, a feature pushing into the region will spoil the higher temperatures by midweek; others will hang on to the burst of warm air for a few additional days.

"As an area of low pressure approaches the Great Lakes Wednesday, a shot of colder air will sneak in from eastern Canada across much of the Northeast thanks to a cold front," noted Benz.

Forecasters say that this shot of cooler air will be most noticeable across New England and the Northeast, although temperatures will likely fall as well across the mid-Atlantic region.

"Areas near and west of the Appalachians are the most likely to stay mild through much of the upcoming week," added Benz.

Rain to return by midweek

The chance for wet weather will return to areas of the mid-Atlantic and New England states by midweek as a zone of low pressure advances out of the Mississippi Valley. Even by Tuesday evening, a weak feature skirting through the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes can allow for a bit of rain and showers to extend into the interior Northeast states with cooler air sweeping in behind it.

Rain and showers are projected to track across the Northeast from Wednesday to Friday, bringing a general 1-2 inches of rain to the region. Following the soaking rain that spread across the region last week, area rivers and streams will be more susceptible to flooding from any additional rain, even though most levels have declined some over the past few days.

Continue to check back for the latest updates as AccuWeather meteorologists continue to monitor the development of the storm and risk for flooding later this week across the Northeast.

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