Last Week of May to Feel Like Midsummer in Northeast

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

May 26,2015; 8:16PM,EDT

 

 

Following a cool and even frosty start to the Memorial Day weekend, many areas in the Eastern states will have consistent summerlike warmth and a buildup of humidity for the last week of May.
High pressure will take up residence just off the Atlantic Coast of the United States this week. The clockwise flow of air around the high will pump very warm and humid air across the eastern third of the nation.
Fans and air conditioners will be abuzz during the afternoon and evening hours in the urban areas.
The millions heading back to work or school will be able to trade long sleeves and jackets for short sleeves, shorts and lightweight summer attire this week.

According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Ben Noll, "Daily high temperatures will be 10-20 degrees above normal through Wednesday in many places [of the Northeast] as the humidity rises."
Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia, are some of the cities that can expect multiple days with high temperatures at or above 90 F.
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Highs will be in the 80s most days of the week in New York City and Pittsburgh. Temperatures may top 80 on one or more days around Boston with a local sea breeze mitigating the warmth.
AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures will be several degrees higher.

In the South, actual temperatures will run 5-10 degrees above average with RealFeel Temperatures topping 90 most afternoons in most locations.
The cool spots in the East will be right along the coast, especially the south-facing beaches.
For people planning a trip to the beach, use caution when venturing too far into the water. Surf temperatures this time of the year range from the 50s along much of the New England coast to the 60s over the southern mid-Atlantic.
Rainfall will be limited across the region this week. The system responsible for flooding over Texas and the Plains will lift northward rather than swing eastward.
The system could still pack enough punch to bring severe weather to the Great Lakes into Tuesday night.
"In the East, afternoon thunderstorms across the higher terrain away from the coast will do a little to briefly cool the air, but sticky, uncomfortable conditions will prevail through much of the week," Noll said.

There will be an uptick in thunderstorms along the coast by Wednesday night and Thursday.
Even though temperatures will venture well above average for the end of May, midsummerlike warmth is no stranger at this time of the year.
Record high temperatures are well into the 90s during late May for most locations of the Northeast.
According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines, "It was just last year, on May 26 and 27, when temperatures climbed well into the 80s and lower 90s in the mid-Atlantic."
A press of cool air toward the end of the month is looking less dramatic than originally thought.
Temperatures are forecast to dip slightly on Thursday into Friday as a front drifts from the Great Lakes to the coast and weakens.
However, even with a slight cooling trend toward the end of the week, the combination of temperature, humidity and other conditions will make for a broad area of midsummerlike RealFeel Temperatures from the Midwest to the Atlantic coast.

Warmth and humidity will likely hold or build along the Atlantic Seaboard during the first part of the last weekend of May as a second front approaches from the Midwest.