When will warmth stay put in the midwestern, northeastern US?

By Brett Rathbun, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist

May 19,2016; 10:40AM,EDT

 

 

The month of May has been on the cool side for most of the midwestern and northeastern United States, leaving many to wonder when lasting warmth will arrive.
Temperatures have averaged 3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit below average in most locations through the first half of the month.
Typical highs this time of year range from the mid-60s to near 70 F from the northern Plains to northern New England to the mid- to upper 70s from the Missouri Valley to the mid-Atlantic.
For those hoping for a return to springlike warmth this weekend, relief is on the horizon for some, but not for others. In a recent AccuWeather poll asking about preferred weather during May, 76 percent of voters said they like early summer warmth, compared to 24 percent of voters who enjoy cool, April-like days.

"High pressure in the central United States will bring a surge of warmer air to the Midwest, while a storm will bring cooler and unsettled weather to the Eastern states this weekend and into early next week," AccuWeather Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski said.
Umbrellas and rain jackets will be needed this weekend across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, while shorts, T-shirts and sunglasses can be worn across the Midwest.
Highs will be closer to or slightly above average across the Midwest this weekend as warmer air slowly builds from the west. Highs will run above average early next week.
Highs from Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago and Minneapolis may flirt with the 80-degree mark by early next week.
Any prolonged stretch of 80-degree warmth will be on hold across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
While a taste of typical spring weather will return to much of the Northeast to end the week, cooler weather will return for the weekend.

Enough sunshine could send temperatures into the 70s across much of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Friday. Some locations could have the warmest day yet this month.
By Saturday, however, a storm set to bring drenching rain from the southern Appalachians to the central Gulf Coast on Friday will sweep across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
While the storm will leave the region during Saturday night, a pocket of cool air will sit across the mid-Atlantic, producing plenty of clouds and spotty showers on Sunday.
Rain and clouds this weekend could keep temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees below average from Boston to New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. Saturday is likely to be the cooler day of the weekend.
As the storm leaves this weekend, warmer air will finally arrive and may stick around for several days.
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Forecast temperature maps
Above-average warmth will reach portions of the interior Northeast early in the week before reaching the Interstate 95 corridor by midweek.
Some locations will challenge the 80-degree mark by next Wednesday.
"The warm air can continue right into the start of the Memorial Day weekend," AccuWeather Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said.