Nat'l Wx - September 30 (9pm)

[Jeb]

Cold air ushers in fall-like weather in a hurry

8:56 P.M. ET 9/30/2004

 

Tom Moore, Senior Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

 

 

 

Northeast

Saturday will be a different story but at least Friday will be dry and pleasant across the Northeast region. Watch out for some morning fog in some of the river valleys, however. Weak high pressure will take over and, under mostly sunny skies, temperatures in most areas will peak in the 70s. A significant strong cold front will arrive with rain and thunderstorms for New York and the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday and for New England Saturday night into early Sunday morning. Daytime temperatures by Sunday will be in the 50s and 60s as the sunshine returns to close out the weekend.

 

South

An energetic cold front will push into the southern Plains Friday, possibly touching off a few severe thunderstorms across eastern Oklahoma, western Arkansas and northern Texas. By late Saturday, the front will reach the coastal Carolinas and stretch westward to southern Texas. A few thunderstorms will precede the cold front as it moves into the Deep South. Daytime temperatures will lower from the 80s and lower 90s on Friday to the 70s and 80s by Sunday.

 

Midwest

A strong cold front willsweep through the Midwest Friday and early of Saturday. Ahead of the front, showers and thunderstorms will erupt and behind the front winds will be blustery. High temperatures across the northern Plains on Friday will find it difficult to get out of the 40s and highs in the 70s across Lower Michigan and the Ohio Valley on Friday will be replaced with 50s and 60s by Saturday. Lake-effect rain showers, downwind of Lake Superior, will keep temperatures in the chilly 40s across western Upper Michigan on Saturday. A second strong cold front will sweep through the region from the Dakotas to the Ohio Valley Sunday and Monday. Upper Michigan and northern Wisconsin could even see some snow in the higher elevations over the weekend into Monday.

 

West

A taste of fall is visiting parts of the West as two areas of high pressure will slide southward east of the Rockies giving the high Plains one shot of chilly air Friday into Saturday and a second shot by Monday. Meanwhile, temperatures in the protected Pacific Northwest will be 5 to 10 degrees above average right through Monday. Over the Southwest, one upper-level system will exit eastward only to be replaced by a new Pacific disturbance by the beginning of the next. The risk for showers and a few thunderstorms will linger across parts of Wyoming and the Four Corners' states through the weekend.