Posts

Miguel Pierre

5/8 AM Zones Update: Cool Weather Week, Potential Weekend Coastal Storm

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Happy Monday! It’s been chilly with some sunshine has been this morning. But an large, anomalous cold upper-level low continues to linger over the northeast today. This will cause the atmosphere to become more unstable, with more daytime heating. So more clouds will likely increase again this afternoon, with some isolated or widely scattered showers around. These should be mostly on light side however, with very limited lift and moisture overall. Temperatures will be cooler than normal today with highs in mid-upper 50s to around 60 in most spots.

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John Homenuk

Premium: Intricate phase will determine magnitude of coastal storm

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The details of a phase between a mid level disturbance over the Ohio Valley, one with surprising vigor, and a second disturbance dropping southward from Southeast Canada into the Northeast, will have significant impacts on the eventual evolution of a coastal storm system this weekend. The atmospheric evolution in the mid and upper levels is actually quite complex, and reminiscent of some of the storm systems that impact our area in the winter season.

The pattern actually begins becoming amplified and energetic today (Friday), as a large trough in the Western United States amplifies. This will force a large ridge axis to build to its east, over the Central Plains states. This ridge drives northward, amplifying into Central Canada. This sets the stage for a large and amplifying trough over the Eastern United States this weekend.

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John Homenuk

Coastal storm may bring heavy rain, wind on Saturday

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Amazingly, we’re still talking about coastal storms during the middle weeks of May. A period long discussed as one that may favor a cutoff low or coastal storm seems to be coming to fruition, as forecast models have keyed in on a potential storm this weekend. Energy over the Ohio Valley will move eastward toward the Mid Atlantic, as additional shortwave energy drops southeastward from Canada toward the Mid Atlantic as well.

The resulting interaction will result in the development of a coastal storm, with a low pressure at the surface moving eastward towards the Mid Atlantic coast. But the exact track and intensity of the storm system will depend on the evolution in the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere. As the two pieces of energy interact and potentially phase, the surface low pressure will deepen — resulting in areas of heavy rain and strong winds developing to the north and northwest of the low pressure center.

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John Homenuk

Behind coastal storm, more snow possible Tuesday

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Two atmospheric disturbances within a relatively short distance of one another will impact the area early this week, with the first and more powerful storm grazing the area on Monday. That storm system will strengthen off the East Coast and shift northeastward, bringing periods of heavy snow to Long Island on Monday. The bands of steady snow should graze New York City and the NJ Coast, as the fringe of precipitation sits near the area.

Behind this storm system, precipitation will remain in the forecast — not the typical dry air and clearing that we often see behind Nor’Easters. Instead, another atmospheric disturbance will drive southeastward from the Great Lakes to a position near the Mid Atlantic on Tuesday, and a surface low pressure area will develop off the coast of the Northeast US yet again.

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