US East Coast to Sizzle on Labor Day Following Brief Late-Week Reprieve

September 3,2015; 11:46PM,EDT

 

 

An unusually strong push of cool air for early September will move southward along the Atlantic Seaboard into the Labor Day weekend, before July-like heat returns by next week.
A southward-moving push of cool air along the Atlantic coast is called a backdoor cool front.

Big Changes on the Way for the Northeast

Backdoor cool fronts are more common during the spring, rather than the late summer and can involve some Atlantic Ocean air.
For those who mind the hot and humid weather, the pattern will offer a break for a couple of days. Temperatures will be slashed in many locations from New England to the coastal mid-Atlantic.
RELATED:
US Labor Day Weekend Forecast
More Tropical Systems May Brew in Atlantic During September Despite El Nino
2015 US Open Forecast
Cities from Boston to New York City; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; Norfolk, Virginia; and Raleigh, North Carolina, should experience a temperature drop by approximately 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will also lower. However, in the direct sunlight during the afternoon hours, it may still feel hot for many people.
The front will sink southward through the Northeast late this week and then in the mid-Atlantic region during this weekend.

Just ahead of the front will be spotty but locally heavy afternoon and evening thunderstorms.
In addition to lowering temperatures, the fresh air arriving from the north and east will result in lower humidity levels and a reduction in haze.
Even with the reduction in heat, temperatures will still average above normal.
Farther west, any cooling will be very limited or will not occur at all west of the Appalachians through much of the Midwest.
Rather than the backdoor front setting up a cool pattern for an extended period, heat will build back into the mid-Atlantic and New England from Labor Day through Wednesday of next week.

Along with the return of highs ranging from the upper 80s to the lower 90s, humidity levels will increase and haze will build.
RealFeel Temperatures will rebound into the middle 90s to near 100 in many urban locations during the first part of next week.
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek, "With normal temperatures trending downward quickly this time of the year, next week's heat may be more extreme when compared to this week."
For example, in New York City, the average high on Sept. 2 is 80, but next Wednesday, Sept. 9, the average high is in the middle 70s.
According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Ben Noll, "Some locations could challenge record highs for a day or two next week."
Noll stated that while some cooler air will filter into the East later next week, temperatures in most cases will only dip to near or slightly below average with the coolest locations west of the Appalachians.
"Much of the balance of September is likely to bring above-average temperatures along the Atlantic Seaboard of the Northeast," Noll said.