An active weather pattern over the next several days will feature a powerful wind event on Wednesday night across many northeastern states and then an Arctic air mass will invade the eastern states early next week. The powerful winds on Wednesday night will be associated with an intensifying low-pressure system that forms along a strong cold frontal boundary zone and 60+ mph wind gusts are on the table for some locations. By the end of the upcoming weekend, another strong cold front will slide into the eastern states, and this system will usher in the coldest air of the season so far with the first hard freeze in many spots and accumulating snow will be possible across the Great Lakes, interior sections of the northeastern states.
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There will be as many as three cold fronts to deal with in the northeastern part of the nation during the next week or so, but the third system will be the most important and is destined to arrive late in the upcoming weekend. The first cold front comes through on Wednesday night primarily on the dry side and it turns slightly cooler behind it on Thursday. The second cold front then arrives at the end of the work week likely producing some shower activity from late Friday night into early Saturday; however, temperatures will hardly change at all this weekend following its passage. It is the third cold front that arrives on Sunday night that will be very noticeable as it is at the leading edge of an Arctic air mass…the coldest air so far this season. This cold air outbreak early next week may be accompanied by some early season accumulating snow across the Great Lakes, interior sections of the Northeast US and New England.
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Hurricane Melissa has reached the southwestern coast of Jamaica as a category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph. The hurricane has turned to the northeast and should continue on this path during the next few days with an accelerated motion. After hitting Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa will cross over eastern Cuba – likely as a major hurricane – and then to the southeastern part of the Bahama Island chain in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. By late Thursday, Melissa could come very close to the island of Bermuda or move directly over as it picks up some forward speed and continues on a northeasterly direction...eventually bringing it out to the open waters of the North Atlantic by the upcoming weekend.
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Melissa is now a category 5 “major” hurricane located just to the south of Jamaica and continues to drift to the west over some very warm water of the central Caribbean Sea. Hurricane Melissa will begin a gradual turn to the northwest and then north by later tonight and likely come ashore on Jamaica’s southern coast on Tuesday morning. After that, the hurricane will push in a northeasterly direction and pass over the eastern part of Cuba by early Wednesday – likely still as a major - and then likely the southeastern Bahama Islands by late Wednesday. By later Thursday, Melissa could come very close to the island of Bermuda as it picks up some forward speed and continues on a northeasterly direction...eventually bringing it out to the open waters of the North Atlantic.
Meanwhile, an active weather pattern over the continental US will feature a deepening upper-level trough by mid-week over the Tennessee Valley and this will help to spawn a strong surface-level storm system. This strong storm will likely produce a soaking event for the Mid-Atlantic region from later Wednesday through Thursday night with 2+ inches on the table, and onshore winds will be a noticeable factor as well. The rain may linger for a bit on Friday morning, but the bulk of Halloween Day should feature partial sunshine and quite windy and cool conditions.
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Tropical Storm Melissa continues to drift today over the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and will likely do so for several days to come. There has been no intensification of the tropical system during the past 24 hours or so as it is in an area featuring strong westerly vertical wind shear. Wind shear in the general vicinity of the circulation center of Tropical Storm Melissa is likely to diminish over the upcoming weekend which should allow for intensification of the system into a minimal hurricane, and a strengthening to “major”, category 5 status is certainly on the table by early next week. Ultimately, this tropical system will take a turn to the north - likely crossing over central/eastern Cuba - on its way to the western Atlantic Ocean. An active weather pattern next week will feature a powerful jet streak, intense blocking in the atmosphere centered over Canada, plenty of colder-than-normal air, an intensifying upper-level trough over the central and eastern US, and Hurricane Melissa. There is quite likely going to be some kind of interaction between the inland upper-level trough and the western Atlantic Ocean hurricane, and a “late in the game” turn to the northwest by the tropical system cannot be completely ruled out.
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“Melissa” became the first named tropical storm of the year so far in the Caribbean Sea and it had been moving westward at a fairly rapid clip until just recently. A dramatic slowdown has taken place with Tropical Storm Melissa as it has moved into an area with very weak winds in the atmosphere. The slow movement of TS Melissa may last for the next several days and it is occurring over some very warm water in the central Caribbean...fully capable of supporting further intensification. Environmental conditions will become quite supportive of intensification as well in coming days with overall wind shear likely to diminish. This combination of favorable water temperatures for intensification along with improving environmental conditions raises the chance that TS Melissa intensifies all the way to “major” hurricane status by late this weekend or early next week. Looking ahead to later next week, with a deepening trough of low pressure likely to form just inland, there certainly can be some interaction between the inland trough and the western Atlantic tropical system…stay tuned; especially, if a resident in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast US/New England.
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The European model run on Monday morning produced some stunningly high rainfall amounts of a foot or more in much of the Mid-Atlantic region for the 5-day period ending on Saturday, November 1st. Meanwhile, the Canadian model run from Monday night featured what is likely to be a hurricane (Melissa) producing accumulating snow over some of the higher elevations of the Northeast US late next week after it shifts northwest towards the New England coastline and encounters an unusually cold air mass. While odds are against either of these scenarios coming to fruition, they do suggest to me that the models are correctly sniffing out the potential for some energetic weather from later next week into the following week and there are several ingredients likely to come into play for just such a pattern. The ingredients include a powerful jet streak that will push into the western US this weekend from the northern Pacific Ocean, intense blocking in the upper part of the atmosphere that is likely to develop across central Canada by the middle of next week, a cold air intrusion into the US from Canada, and a likely hurricane over the western Atlantic Ocean.
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There have been some notable storms near the east coast during the late stages of October and early parts of November including Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the so-called “Perfect Storm” in 1991, and Hurricane Nicole in 2022 which made landfall in Florida. It is at this time of year where there can be a “last gasp” from the Atlantic Basin tropical season as water is still quite warm in places like the Caribbean Sea, and southwestern Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, there is often an increasing frequency of chilly air masses moving from Canada into the US warning us that winter is not too far away. It is this combination of a waning tropical season combined with increasingly winter-like chill that can cause volatile weather patterns in late October and early November and we could be setting up for something like that for late next week into the beginning of November.
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Lots of players are on the field as we begin the weekend with one upper-level low over the Great Lakes that is dropping slowly to the southeast and a second wave of energy in the southern stream that is helping to spin up a surface low pressure system off the southeast US coast. In addition, there is a strong high-pressure system to our north that continues to shift slowly offshore as we begin the weekend. The combination of the high to the north and low to the south is already producing an onshore flow of air in the Mid-Atlantic region and this will persist for the next few days potentially leading to significant coastal flooding/beach erosion from Long Island-to-New Jersey-to-the Delmarva Peninsula. While there can be some heavy showers and strong wind gusts across inland areas during the next few days, rainfall amounts will be much more limited with the worst impact from this developing storm system confined to coastal sections.
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Low pressure is going to intensify significantly this weekend near the Southeast US coastline, induced by a frontal boundary zone that slides into the region and energized by an upper-level trough that drops southeast across the Great Lakes. It appears increasingly likely that this strong coastal storm will then push far enough to the north to have an impact on the Carolinas, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast US all the way from later Saturday into late Monday. The worst impact will be along coastal sections where rain will be heaviest, winds will be strongest, and the threat of coastal flooding/beach erosion will be high due to a prolonged period of onshore flow.
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