Late-week rain to mark end of dry spell in Great Lakes, mid-Atlantic

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

April 19,2016; 9:55PM,EDT

 

 

Mid- to late-week rainfall will mark the end of an extended dry spell in the Great Lakes and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.
A pocket of rain skipped across northern New England into Tuesday morning and was associated with a press of cool air in the Northeast. However, that system failed to bring much more than sprinkles farther south.
A stalled storm system responsible for flooding rainfall in parts of the Central states will begin to move and spread a broad area of showers and thunderstorms farther east as the week progresses.

The leading edge of the showers will reach the western the Great Lakes area on Wednesday, the eastern Great Lakes and central Appalachians Wednesday night and Thursday and the Atlantic Seaboard on Friday.
"The corridor of heavy rain, now in the Plains, will tend to weaken and become more fragmented as it moves into the eastern part of the nation," according to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams.
Increasing forward motion of the storm will also help to reduce the amount of rain farther east.
The late-week rainfall will generally struggle to bring more than a few tenths of an inch to most locations. However, the random, showery nature of the system can bring a thorough soaking to some communities, perhaps on the order of an inch or two. Portions of the mid-Atlantic and the South can be hit by a heavy thunderstorm as well.
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For many areas from Michigan and southern and western New York state to the Carolinas, the current dry spell will last eight or nine days. The last measurable rainfall in this swath was on April 11 around the Great Lakes and April 12 farther east.
The lack of rain combined with low humidity has resulted in an elevated brush fire risk, especially where vegetation has not yet sprouted.
The dry landscape has contributed to large temperature swings from night to day. In some cases, temperatures have been climbing and falling by 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit from morning to afternoon to night.
Later this week, the boost in soil moisture will result in less dramatic diurnal temperature changes in some cases.
Enough rain can fall not only to reduce the brush fire risk, but also to reduce the pollen buildup temporarily.
However, some roads could be quite slick at the onset of the rain, due to a buildup of oil from vehicles during the dry spell. Motorists should allow extra stopping distance and space between vehicles on the highways.
While the rain will officially mark an end to the dry spell, it will not be enough to alleviate the building dry conditions in the region. Parts of the region are experiencing a rainfall deficit of 2-4 inches since early March.
"While not serious, the lack of rain since early March and lower-than-average snowfall in some areas this past winter are affecting affecting negatively stream and ground water levels," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dave Dombek.
For people who were busy working on filing their taxes and could not take advantage of the dry weather and sunshine this past weekend, the rain is projected to depart the mid-Atlantic and New England region on or before Saturday morning.
Another batch of spotty showers may skip across the Great Lakes this weekend.