US weather to reverse next week: Searing heat to seize Central states; Downpours to frequent East

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist

July 12,2016; 8:05AM,EDT

 

 

Following storms in the central United States and a surge of heat farther east this week, the weather pattern will flip during next week.
Additional rounds of showers and thunderstorms will mitigate the heat over much of the Central states into this weekend. Some of the storms can be severe with the risk of damaging wind gusts and flash flooding.

In the Northeast, conditions will generally trend hotter into Friday, then reverse.
"A large area of high pressure will build over the middle of the nation and act like a giant heat pump during next week," according to AccuWeather Lead Long Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok.
As this system strengthens, it will tone down and virtually eliminate thunderstorm activity in much of the central U.S. At the same time, the door will be open for more temperate conditions and wet weather at times in the East.

During next week, as strong July sunshine beats down on the landscape and dries out the ground, temperatures will trend upward over much of the Central states.
Later next week, temperatures could rival the highest levels of the summer so far, including in Chicago, Des Moines, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska. Highs in many areas of the Plains and the Upper Midwest will range from the middle to upper 90s F. Some locations could top the century mark.
Ninety-degree highs could extend to Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh for multiple days.
Farther south, no significant relief from the heat is forecast for the South Central states through next week. In fact, as humidity levels decline slightly, temperatures will trend upward and can reach extreme levels in some locations.
Locations such as Dallas, Oklahoma City, Nashville and Little Rock, Arkansas, may record their first 100-degree temperature of the summer from later next week into the following weekend.
"Meanwhile, a mosaic of showers and thunderstorms will also dampen the East during next week," Pastelok said, adding that this will follow a stormy weekend.
Most of the storms will spring up directly over the Appalachians and the Atlantic Seaboard. A few may form near the Canada/U.S. border of the Plains and roll southeastward across the Great Lakes and into the East.
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Enough rain could fall in some locations to ease abnormally dry conditions in some areas and perhaps stop the pattern of building drought in others.
As the ground trends wetter in in more areas, temperatures will struggle to exceed average from New England to the mid-Atlantic. Since there will be no strong push of air from central Canada, humidity levels may build during next week in the Northeast.
Except for a day or two where storms hold off, high temperatures will generally be limited to the upper 70s and lower 80s over the Appalachians and New England and mainly in the 80s along the mid-Atlantic coast.
Much of the Southeastern states will remain steamy, due to strong July sunshine and high humidity past the middle of July. High temperatures will generally be in the lower to middle 90s in cities such as Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.
It is possible, where storms occur early and often enough during a particular day, highs in a few locations in the Southeast may top out in the 80s. Part of the southern Atlantic Seaboard may get a slight break away from the near triple-digit heat of late.