Moisture From Patricia Fuels Soaking Rain in Midwest, East

By Becky Elliott, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

October 27,2015; 9:25PM,EDT

 

 

Rain and gusty winds will continue to spread across the Midwest and East Coast at midweek, replacing the dry weather that has dominated much of the month.
Dry weather has prevailed for much of October, with many locations well below their normal rainfall.
The United States Drought Monitor shows 46 percent of the Midwest as abnormally dry and 11 percent in a moderate drought as of last Thursday. In the Northeast, over a quarter of the region is either abnormally dry or coping with moderate drought conditions.

Major Travel Delays Wednesday for the Northeast

Several factors are coming together to produce the wet weather across the eastern half of the country. Moisture will stream northward from once-Tropical Rainstorm Patricia, which spread flooding rain from Texas and Louisiana to Mississippi and into the Florida Panhandle.
"A developing system over the Upper Midwest will aid in pulling this moisture up from the Gulf before pushing it into the eastern part of the country," AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys said.
The northward push of rain will persist into Wednesday, with rain reaching Philadelphia and New York City by the early morning hours.

"For many cities including New York City, Philadelphia and Boston, the morning and afternoon commutes will be vastly different," stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Alyson Hoegg.
"While rain will be starting during the morning commute in New York and Philadelphia, it will be light. By the evening commute, heavy rain and gusty winds will reduce visibility and will slow travel."
Rainfall amounts will generally average around 1-2 inches across the Midwest and East; however, some locations could receive even more.
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While the rainfall will be very beneficial in helping to ease the drought conditions, it will also have some negative impacts on roadway conditions.
"Rainfall will combine with a plethora of fallen leaves that will become soggy and flow into storm drains. These drains can easily become clogged, which will likely lead to flooding on roads," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams said.

Motorists should take caution when traveling on side streets and parkways, as well as when exiting the highways.
"Slippery leaves can sneak up on you and cause car tires to slip on the wet roadway," Abrams said.
"As the storm strengthens, so will gusty winds around the eastern Great Lakes and Northeast," stated AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski. "Wind gusts of 40-60 mph threaten to cause sporadic tree damage and power outages around the eastern Great Lakes, Appalachians and the New England coast Wednesday and Wednesday night."
The strongest winds will blast places around lakes Erie and Ontario.

The above graphic are expected wind gusts outside of thunderstorms in the mid-Atlantic and Carolinas.
Localized coastal flooding may ensue at the Atlantic beaches and the northwestern shores of the Great Lakes.
A brief period of damaging winds will also target the corridor from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Baltimore Wednesday afternoon and night via a line of thunderstorms along the system's cold front.
"It is not out of the question for this line to expand northward into the Northeast and lead to higher wind gusts [than what is shown on the above graphic]," said Pydynowski.
As colder air meets with this midweek storm, snow will return to far northern portions of the Upper Midwest on Wednesday.
While snowflakes will make an appearance in parts of North Dakota and northern Minnesota during the day, the better opportunity for the snow to accumulate a coating to an inch or two will be Wednesday night near western Lake Superior. This includes around Duluth.
The widespread soaking rain will gradually depart the New England coast on Thursday, while winds continue to blow across most of the Northeast and Great Lakes. A couple of showers will persist with snow showers mixing in across the upper Great Lakes.
The weather will further improve late in the week as an area of high pressure builds overhead. Much to the delight of trick-or-treaters, the dry weather will hold along the East Coast into Saturday evening. However, showers will move back into the Great Lakes for Halloween.