Will Summer Return in the Midwest, Northeast?

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

August 6,2013; 6:17PM,EDT

 

 

For portions of the Midwest and the Northeast, the current cool weather pattern will have staying power through the third week of August.
No heat waves are forecast through the middle of the month from the Upper Midwest to the Northeast. While the pattern will have some warm and humid days, they will tend to be brief. The pattern will make working outdoors more enjoyable and less risky.
Unheated backyard pools may get a little chilly, but many people will still be able to enjoy some warm weather at the beach or swimming pool.

High temperatures will generally range from the middle 70s to the middle 80s in the major cities and on the beaches with highs close to 70 at times in the mountains.
Air conditioning will still be needed during some daytime hours in the big cities and urban areas, and some of the nights will be muggy.

Heat will continue over Texas and much of the South Central states, while expanding to part of Deep South.
A zone of frequent rain will continue along the boundary between the southern heat and northern tier coolness. This area is likely to reach from parts of the central Plains to the interior South and southern mid-Atlantic.
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Wet weather has and will continue play a role in mitigating temperatures.

According to Brian Green, spokesman for Georgia Power, the utility company has not come close to their record demand, because of the mild, wet conditions this summer.

The pattern will prevent tropical storms or hurricanes from turning northward along the Atlantic coast and the northern Gulf Coast but could drive some moisture into South Texas.
While solar summer, the three months of the year with the highest sun angle, comes to an end on Aug. 6, officially summer does not end until Sept. 22. The warmest three months of the year, meteorological summer, continues through the end of August.
A dip in steering level winds, known as the jet stream will continue to push wave after wave of cool air from the northern Plains to the Midwest, New England and mid-Atlantic through the middle of August.
A couple of weeks ago, there was some indication that the cool pattern and southward dip in the jet stream would focus more over the Midwest after a week or two of cool air reaching the East. The latest indications are that cool weather will continue to be more far-reaching and longer-lasting in the East.
There is still the potential for persistent warm and humid conditions to build in from the Atlantic Ocean later in the month into the first part of September. However, lengthening nights and lower sun angle would take the edge off this heat, translating to nothing like what occurred over a broad area during the middle of July.
The frequent cool weather pattern is likely to continue over much of the Midwest moving forward into September.