Monday, August 11, 2014

Central, Eastern US: Summer Heat, 90-Degree Days Stay Away This Week

By Brian Edwards, Meteorologist
August 11,2014; 9:30PM,EDT
 
 
Golf fans wait out a rain delay on the first hole during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
2014 has featured a wet and cooler-than-average summer across a wide swath of the country from the central Plains to the mid-Atlantic, including the Northeast and Great Lakes. As children get ready to go back to school, some people are asking where all the summer warmth was and why was it so cool and wet?
Even though it's been cooler than average in many locations, AccuWeather.com meteorologists are still expecting a stretch of above-normal warmth across the Midwest and East during the latter part of August.
Why Has It Been Cool and Wet in the East, Midwest?
According to AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Mark Paquette, "The Midwest and the East have experienced an unusually large amount of strong cold frontal passages which have been able to track deep into the South."
These fronts have brought plenty of thunderstorm activity to these areas, which has sent rainfall well above normal in many locations.
Since June 1, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Chicago, Illinois; and Omaha, Nebraska, have experienced around 150 percent of their average rainfall.
Another feature that our meteorologists monitor is called the "Bermuda High", which has been displaced farther east as compared to normal.
The Bermuda High is a semi-permanent area of high pressure, generally centered near Bermuda in the spring and summer. When it becomes displaced farther east, it isn't able to send warmth from the tropics northward into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Temperature Departures (Fahrenheit) From 6/1 to 8/10

City
Departure
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
-2.0 degrees
Indianapolis, Indiana
-2.3 degrees
Bismarck, North Dakota
-1.8 degrees
State College, Pennsylvania
-2.0 degrees
Atlantic City, New Jersey
-1.4 degrees
Dover, Delaware
-1.9 degrees
Lack of 90-Degree Days
As the second half of August approaches, we're just under three weeks away from the end of what we call meteorological summer (June through August).
We can look back on the summer so far and see that many of the same locations mentioned above have seen few 90-degree days as compared to normal.
Much of the Midwest and East experiences their greatest concentration of 90-degree days during the month of July and with the cool, wet pattern that occurred, most cities are running below average in terms of 90-degree days.


Lack of 90-Degree Days in US Summer 2014

"Almost every major city from the Plains to the East is running a deficit, and in some cases a major deficit, in the amount of 90+ degree days so far this summer."
AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Mark Paquette
Actual Number of 90-Degree Days in 2014 (Through August 10th)Average Number 90-Degree Days (Through August 10th)20151050Chicago, ILNew York, NYOklahoma City, OKKansas City, MOSioux Falls, SDPittsburgh, PA



Above-Normal Warmth on the Way?
A wet weather pattern will persist across much of the East during the first part of this week. There is even a threat for widespread flash flooding. Behind this flash flood potential, cooler, below-average air will slide from the Midwest into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, keeping the warm weather confined to the Deep South for now.
According to the AccuWeather.com Long-Range Forecasting Team, the Bermuda High will help to bring much warmer air from the central Plains to the East with the highest above-normal departures from the Ohio Valley to the interior Northeast. This is expected to begin around Aug. 20.
Some cities, like New York City, could end up as much as 10 degrees above normal during the stretch of days from Aug. 20-23. Keeping in mind that NYC's normal high is in the lower 80s, departures to this magnitude could mean a several-day stretch of 90-degree weather.
AccuWeather.com meteorologists will continue to monitor the potential for a significant warmup over the next few weeks.

On Social Media
USA TODAY Weather
usatodayweather
@MyDesert @tturner1234 Yes, the ongoing contrast this year between western heat/drought and central/eastern cool/wet has been quite dramatic
prepperpodcast
prepperpodcast
Central, Eastern US: Summer Heat, 90-Degree Days Stay Away This Week - prepperpodcast.com/central-easter… pic.twitter.com/jaSa3Jitxu
 
 
 
 

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