Persistent rounds of rain return to eastern US for second half of week

By Becky Elliott, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

May 8,2016; 9:48PM,EDT

 

The second full week of May will start off on a much drier note across the Northeast. However, this dry spell will be short-lived, with a wetter pattern returning by the end of the week.
For many cities across the region, the amount of rain that has fallen in the past week is greater than the amount of rain that fell during the entire month of April.
This complete 180 from abnormally dry weather to above-normal rainfall has been good for vegetation and helping with soil moisture and stabilizing the unusually low levels on streams and rivers. There are still pockets from Pennsylvania and New Jersey to Maine, where soil moisture remains below the historical average (1916-2004) for early May.
Replenishing the soil moisture this spring could be an important factor to avoiding significant drought during the summer, with hotter and drier weather in the forecast.
While the rain is good for helping ease drought conditions, it can be a nuisance to those who live in the East.
A moisture-laden storm is expected to traverse very slowly across the eastern third of the country starting on Thursday and continuing into the weekend.

"Residents along the Eastern Seaboard will be hard-pressed to find more than a couple days in a row of completely dry weather over the next week or two," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Bill Deger.
Rain boots, umbrellas and rain coats will be necessary items to have on hand for the latter part of the week, through the weekend and even into next week.
Rounds of showers and thunderstorms will plague this area through at least mid-May, Deger added.
These rounds of rain and storms will be the result of an unsettled weather pattern that develops over the region.
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"Rainfall amounts of an inch or so could fall from Boston to Philadelphia next Friday and Saturday," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist, Dan Pydynowski.

"While this is not enough rain to cause any flooding issues, the rain could still come down heavily at times and cause standing water on roadways in low-lying or poor drainage areas, " said Pydynowski.
Warm, springlike temperatures combined with the moisture from this pattern will trigger some thunderstorms, especially south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
Dangerous lightning, gusty winds and hail could be threats from those storms.

Rocco Salvemini ·

Maintenance at Multi-space meter cleaner

I don't see NYC hitting 80 this month, last yr, we were already used to it being that hot

Like · Reply · 1 hr

David Colantuono ·

Works at Unemployed

This rain is needed after how dry it's been in March and April. I won't complain about the rain until it causes flooding. We had a good soaking early this morning.

What worries me is how hot and dry Summer could be this year. This wet pattern we're getting now may not be enough to avoid a drought. Don't forget that last year was wet in Spring through June. Then, it was followed by a hot and very dry Summer from July all the way to the end of the year. I hope this year won't be a repeat performance of last year.

If we get another hot and dry Summer, you can bet I will complain big time about it...unless the heat kills me (a possibility if it gets as hot as they're saying).