7:00 AM | Strong cold front reaches the coast tonight; heavy rainfall and strong storms can be expected; nor'easter forms along the front and affects the early weekend weather

6-Day Forecast

Today

Mostly cloudy, windy, still warm and humid, but not quite as warm as yesterday, occasional showers and possible afternoon thunderstorms, any shower can produce heavyfall and some of the PM thunderstorms can be strong-to-severe with heavy rainfall, strong wind gusts and hail, highs in the upper 70’s

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, windy, mild early, turning cooler late, occasional rain and a couple of thunderstorms possible, some of the rain can be heavy at times and any storm can be strong-to-severe with heavy rain, strong gusty winds and hail, lows in the upper 50’s by morning

Friday

Mostly cloudy, windy, much cooler, lingering showers likely, low 60’s

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy, windy, chilly, showers likely, mid 40’s

Saturday

Lots of clouds, windy, cool, lingering showers likely, low 60’s

Sunday

Becoming partly sunny, breezy, cool, mid-to-upper 60’s

Monday

Mostly sunny, cool, near 70

Tuesday

Partly sunny, milder, low-to-mid 70's

Discussion

Big changes are on the way for the Mid-Atlantic region over the next couple of days as the pattern transitions from summer-like to rather winter-like by early this weekend with a full-fledged nor'easter developing off the Northeast US coastline. The transition from summer's warmth and humidity to yet another chilly air mass has actually already begun as the peak in the heat occurred yesterday with highs in the upper 80's in many parts of the region. Temperatures will actually drop more than 40 degrees over the next couple of days from yesterday's highs in the upper 80's to weekend lows in the middle 40's. As a powerhouse cold frontal system approaches the east coast today, there will be occasional showers and thunderstorms. Any shower can contain heavy rainfall and any thunderstorm that forms this afternoon and evening can reach strong-to-severe levels with heavy rain, strong gusty winds and hail. In fact, there will likely be scattered strong-to-severe thunderstorms up and down the east coast later today from the Carolinas to New England as this strong cold front heads to the coast.

Once the cold front reaches the east coast later tonight, a strong upper level low will dig into the Mid-Atlantic coastal region, and this will to cause the frontal system to grind to a halt as a nor’easter-type of coastal storm develops at the same time much chillier air pours into the region. As a result, Friday will turn out to be breezy and much cooler than today in the Mid-Atlantic region with lots of clouds and residual showers and, as the coastal storm only slowly pulls away to the northeast, Saturday will likely also turn out to be quite cloudy, windy and cool with the continued threat for showers. The colder air mass will actually allow for the possibility for snowflakes to fall in some of the interior, higher elevation (>2000 feet) locations of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US early this weekend and mountain accumulations are possible (e.g., Adirondacks, Catskills, Green and White mountains). By Sunday, strong Canadian high pressure should finally take control of the weather and there will be some clearing, and then Monday looks like the best day of the three this weekend with plenty of sunshine expected on Memorial Day. Temperatures will stay below normal, however, on Sunday and Monday (normal high is now 75 degrees).

Video

httpv://youtu.be/pveInhfqsV0