3:45 PM | Weekend frontal passage breaks the back of the heat wave and may just return us to a wet pattern

Discussion

From hot, humid and generally rain-free to warm, humid and wet…a cool front is heading towards the east coast and it will break the back of the current heat wave this weekend in the Mid-Atlantic region, but it will also have another important impact on the overall weather pattern. Once the front grudgingly slides through this weekend, it is very likely to stall out just to the south and this could very well lead to a prolonged period of a moist, southwesterly flow of air in the region. In other words, the frontal passage may return us to the type of weather pattern that we experienced before this week’s heat wave - wet and tropical-like.

There will be scattered showers and thunderstorms this evening in the Mid-Atlantic region and more numerous tomorrow afternoon and evening as the cool front reaches the eastern states. Any storm that forms during the next 24 hours or so can be on the strong-to-severe side with heavy rain and gusty winds. The threat for showers and thunderstorms will not end, however, once the front slides through the region. Showers and thunderstorms cannot be ruled out of any day’s forecast for perhaps the next week or so and there is likely to be some heavy rainfall along the way in this new “old” weather pattern - and just when the grass was finally slowing down.