Rain may frequently disrupt outdoor plans in northeastern US next week

By Kristina Pydynowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

May 20,2017, 3:02:45PM,EDT

 

 

After a week dominated by summerlike and record heat, the northeastern United States will face rounds of rain slowing travel and disrupting outdoor plans next week.
The upcoming bouts of wet weather will prevent heat from re-surging into the Northeast, but will plague sporting events or those ready to spend most days outdoors.
Instead of wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts, residents will be grabbing umbrellas on a frequent basis.
The new week will start on a rainy note along the Eastern Seaboard as the storm responsible for the recent severe weather and flooding in the central U.S. slowly advances eastward.

Drenching showers and thunderstorms will focus from the central Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast on Sunday before shifting to the I-95 corridor Sunday night into Monday.
Some of the rain will pour down heavily, raising the risk of isolated flash flooding in urban and poor drainage areas.
However, there will be more incidents of slower travel on roadways, flight delays and disruptions to outdoor plans.
Thunderstorms threaten to delay or postpone Sunday afternoon’s conclusion of the baseball series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
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As the rain spreads eastward, a slow Monday morning commute can be expected from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City.
The steadiest rain should shift to Boston and Portland, Maine, during the afternoon and at night, likely departing Philadelphia and Baltimore before these cities’ baseball teams host games on Monday evening.
“Along with this rain, expect the air to feel a little chilly as temperatures will be slightly below normal for this time of year,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said.
Monday’s highs should be held to the 50s in Boston and the 60s in New York City, less than a few days after each city endured its first official heat wave of the summer.

“This will feel really different than late this past week and may warrant bringing the light coats back out,” Rossio said.
Despite the disruptions to sporting events and other outdoor plans, the rain will water lawns, gardens and fields that were missed by recent showers and thunderstorms.
Some of the thunderstorms that erupted amid the recent heat turned severe.
While Monday’s rain will be accompanied by an increase in humidity in the southern mid-Atlantic, the concern for thunderstorms to produce isolated damaging winds should mainly be confined to the South.
Residents will want take full advantage of the milder and drier Tuesday that will unfold across most of the Northeast in the wake of Monday’s rain.
“The weather pattern will spell rain for midweek as well,” Rossio said.
Once again, disruptions to travel and outdoor events may occur.
Residents with such activities planned may face even more headaches later in the week as the wet weather is expected to persist.