Labor Day forecast: Storms to rattle north-central; Sunshine on tap for East as Hermine pounds coast

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

September 4,2016; 8:06PM,EDT

 

Dry weather will span a large part of the United States on Labor Day, but the threat for ruined plans exists along the Northeast coast and across the central states.
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Sunshine on tap for eastern U.S. despite Hermine's surf pounding Northeast coast
Hermine will remain off the coast of the Northeast enough for impacts to be confined to the coast and eastern New England.
Dry weather and some sunshine will span the mid-Atlantic, but extremely rough seas will still pound the Atlantic beaches. Strong and frequent rip currents will make entering the water dangerous for swimmers and small crafts. Even operators of large vessels will have to use caution.
The pounding seas will also lead to more severe beach erosion and additional incidents of coastal flooding.

Rough seas will endanger beachgoers of the Long Island Sound and waters of New England, especially southern areas, on Monday.
For these areas, Labor Day will further be ruined by some rain spreading northward across southern and central New England. Gusty winds will whip southern areas.
Otherwise, a comfortable Labor Day is shaping up for the remainder of the Northeast underneath a partly to mostly sunny sky.
Residents and visitors will have ample opportunity to enjoy outdoor holiday plans in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Buffalo and Albany, New York; and Burlington, Vermont.
Humidity will remain low and afternoon temperatures will generally range from the upper 70s and lower 80s to the middle and upper 80s in the southern mid-Atlantic, away from the coast.
Dry air will also span the central and eastern Great Lakes and southward to Georgia and northern Florida on Labor Day. Sunshine will prevail from Detroit and Chicago to Nashville to Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida.
While there will be an increase in humidity across the western and central Great Lakes, high humidity will remain absent from the Southeast.
Showers and thunderstorms to threaten outdoor plans across Central states, Gulf Coast
Enough moisture will surge across the Gulf Coast and lower Mississippi Valley for showers and thunderstorms to rumble. That is especially true during the afternoon.
These thunderstorms threaten to force those in Tampa, Florida; Memphis, Tennessee; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Houston indoors for a brief time.
A separate area of thunderstorms will erupt across New Mexico in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the return of warmer and humid air will spark showers and thunderstorms across parts of the Plains on Labor Day.
The greatest potential for a thunderstorm to impact outdoor activities will be in the Upper Midwest, where severe thunderstorms will erupt in the afternoon. This includes the cities of Duluth, Minnesota, and Sioux City and Des Moines, Iowa. The violent thunderstorms will reach Minneapolis at night.

The strongest thunderstorms will produce damaging winds, hail and isolated tornadoes. Those outside should seek shelter when a storm approaches.
Helping to fuel the severe thunderstorms will be the October-like cool air encompassing the northwestern Plains and the northern Rockies, where clouds and showers will further put a damper on the holiday.
Dry weather to highlight Labor Day across much of the West
Away from the showers in the northern Rockies, dry weather will also be in store across the Pacific Northwest as well as the Southwest.
"The western part of the country will have a significant cooling trend over the Labor Day weekend," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines said.
Many areas away from the coast will see daytime temperatures 5-10 degrees below what is typical for early September. Temperatures will be held to the 70s in Boise, Idaho, and Salt Lake City, Utah, on a day when highs in the middle 80s are more typical.
Clouds will dominate the corridor from Seattle to Portland, Oregon. Aside from morning clouds at the California coast, sunshine will prevail across the Southwest.
Content contributed by AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rathbun.
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