Sunshine and Warmth Will Replace Seemingly Unending Gloom in the Northeast

Tom Moore
Published: May 23,2016
A wet, cool, dismal stretch of spring weather in the Northeast will finally come to an end by the middle of this week.
May, thus far, has featured a high number of cloudy days and frequent periods of rain for some major East Coast cities. All of that will change by Wednesday as the sun returns and temperatures climb.

Cool, Damp Start To The New Week

A closed area of low-pressure aloft continues to spin over the Northeast and will hold in place through Tuesday.
Weather patterns like this are unlikely to produce significant rainfall. However, with daytime heating and cold air aloft, clouds tend to form rapidly and scattered showers can be expected.
Monday we are expecting more clouds and scattered showers from Virginia to Upstate New York. Some lingering showers and clouds are once again possible Tuesday from the Mid-Atlantic to New England.
As a result, temperatures will likely to be near or slightly below seasonal averages. It will stay quite cool along the New England Coast through Tuesday, including Boston with an easterly wind from the Atlantic.
(FORECAST: Richmond | Washington, D.C. | Philadelphia | New York | Boston)

A Reversal Of Fortune

A major change in the jet stream pattern by Wednesday will result in significant weather changes for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
Low pressure aloft and an associated trough will be pushed eastward into the Atlantic as a warm ridge of high pressure aloft builds across the eastern U.S.

Warm Ridge Aloft Builds Over The Eastern U.S. Wednesday

The result will be a change from frequent cloudy periods, occasional showers and below-average temperatures to more sunshine and much warmer temperatures.
Residents of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic will notice the change on Wednesday as sunny or mostly sunny skies will prevail. In fact, highs in the middle 80s can be expected along the I-95 corridor from Richmond to New York City. Low 80s are possible into southern New England.

May Sunshine And Warmth Across The East Wednesday

New York City has only been in the 80s twice so far this spring. The average high this of year in May in New York City is about 73 degrees.
Washington, D.C. will top 80 degrees this week for the first time in nearly a month (April 26). Average highs in D.C. during late May are in the upper 70s.
Boston could record its first 80-degree day of 2016 on Wednesday.

Looking Ahead To The Holiday Weekend

This time, it looks like the warmer temperatures will hold on and they will extend into the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend. By Friday, as many head out to fun destinations, high temperatures will be in the mid to upper 80s in parts of western New York and the mid-Atlantic. Highs in the 80s will also occur on Saturday for most of those locations.
Sea breezes will keep the immediate coast a bit cooler, however.
There could be some isolated thunderstorms across parts of the region in the afternoon on Friday and Saturday afternoon.

MIdweek Warmth Will Extend Into the Holiday Weekend

The Gloomy Stats

It has been a particularly frustrating period since mid-April for those who reside in the D.C. area.
Reagan National Airport has recorded measurable rain on 17 of the first 22 days in May. Cloudy skies (at least 8/10 of the sky covered in clouds) have been observed for 14 May days. Their high temperature has yet to reach 80 degrees so far this month.
(MORE: Washington, D.C. Weather This Month)
Earlier, Reagan Airport smashed the previous record streak with measurable rain, chalking up 15 straight days with at least 0.01 inch of rain from April 27 through May 11.
Thanks to all the persistent clouds, rain and some intrusions of cold air, the first 17 days of May were the fourth coolest such period on record in Baltimore, marking the coolest since May 1-17, 1967.
It's also been a top 10 coolest start to May (through the first 17 days) in Newark, New Jersey, the coolest since 1978, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center.
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