Record Warmth in the Plains, Midwest, South and East From a Strong Dose of Indian Summer This Week

Linda Lam
Published: October 16,2016
The third full week of October will feel more like late summer as record warmth spreads from the Plains to the East in a taste of "Indian Summer".
(MAPS: Current Temperatures)
If you've been dreading the thought of pulling winter coats out of storage, or even having to wear a light jacket during the day, you're in luck this week. In many areas, you'll need to turn on the A/C again.

The atmospheric ingredients for record warmth in the Plains, South, Midwest and East ahead.

This dose of Indian summer is thanks to an area of high pressure off the Eastern Seaboard coupled with a migration of the jet stream to the Upper Midwest and eastern Canada.
Late Sunday morning, Amarillo, Texas, had already tied its record high of 91 degrees for the day. Saturday's high soared to 98 degrees in the city, only the fifth October day of record dating to 1892 they've been that hot, and the latest-in-season such day on record, there.
Dodge City, Kansas shattered its daily record and its monthly high temperature record by reaching 99 degrees. The old daily record of 89 degrees went back to 1905!
Denver also topped their daily record Saturday, soaring to 86 degrees.
Other cities that broke their daily high temperature records include Wichita, Kansas, Springfield, Missouri, Garden City, Kansas, and tied in Austin, Texas.
Highs in the 70s and 80s will be plentiful in parts of the Midwest, South and East. Yes, even a few 90s are expected in the South. Dozens of daily record highs will likely fall by the wayside, and some locations may set their record warmest temperatures so late in the year.
And some morning "low" temperatures will feel more like average mid-October highs in some areas.
Let's break down the day-by-day highlights:
(MAPS: 10-Day National High/Low Forecast)

Monday

• 70s: As far north as New York state and southern New England, the Great Lakes, Upper Miss. Valley and south Dakota
• 80s: As far north as parts of the I-95 corridor, possibly to New York City, the southern Great Lakes, and the Corn Belt
• 90s: Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and parts of the Deep South
• Daily record highs possible: Parts of the central and southern Plains, mid-Mississippi Valley, Ohio Valley, Tennessee Valley and Appalachians.
• Potential record high cities (current daily record shown): Nashville (86 degrees) | St. Louis (88 degrees) | Tulsa (90 degrees)

Forecast Highs Compared To Average

Tuesday/Wednesday Outlook

• 70s will surge into parts of interior northern New England
• 80s will persist in the Northeast at least as far north as New York City
• Some 90s will bake parts of the Deep South
• Daily record highs could be numerous fom the Northeast to the Ohio Valley and the Deep South

Some Potential Record Highs

Low temperatures may continue to set records for being so warm.
On Sunday morning, St. Louis stayed above its record warmest low temperature on record for Oct. 16 of 65 degrees. More record warm low temperatures are possible there Monday and Tuesday morning. In fact, they could flirt with with their all-time warmest low temperature for the entire month of October on Tuesday morning which is 74 degrees.
Chicago may also set a record warm low on Monday (current record is 63 degrees) and Tuesday (current record is 65 degrees), as lows in the mid-to-upper 60s are expected. These are average low temperatures in mid-August in the Windy City.
A cold front will gradually work its way from the Upper Midwest and northern Plains to the Deep South and East the latter half of the week, erasing the record warmth.
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