Showers, severe storms to precede burst of unseasonably cool air in northeastern US

By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

A batch of drenching showers and locally severe thunderstorms will pivot through the northeastern United States this weekend, prior to a batch of unseasonably cool air poised to settle in early next week.

The first showers and storms will gather around the central Great Lakes region during Saturday.

The activity is likely to ramp up in intensity during the afternoon hours as the sun heats up the landscape and atmosphere.

As the storms push into parts of the eastern Great Lakes and the central Appalachians, there will be the potential for isolated flash flooding and locally damaging wind gusts. A small number of the storms may also produce hail.

Areas where people may have Saturday outdoor plans such as graduations, camping trips or a jog in the park disrupted include southern Ontario, northern Ohio, western and north-central Pennsylvania and western, central and northern New York state.

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Since the forward speed of the storms may be rather slow, it may rain on and off for several hours in some locations.

However, for much of the Interstate-95 corridor, Saturday is likely to be the drier and sunnier of the two days this weekend, which should help with outdoor graduation and wedding plans. The exception being southeastern Virginia where the remnants of storms from Friday night will linger for a time.

On Sunday, the swath of showers and thunderstorms is forecast to extend from northern New England to the mid-Atlantic coast and parts of the southern Appalachians.

While it may not rain the entire day on Sunday, people in this swath from Maine to the eastern parts of Kentucky and Tennessee should be prepared for at least a few hours of rain that are likely to include some hard downpours and may also include locally damaging winds in thunderstorms.

Like that of Saturday farther to the west, a few incidents of hail are possible.

Delays are likely for the NASCAR race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Noticeably cooler air will follow the wet weather from northwest to southeast spanning later Sunday to Monday.

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It is conceivable that where the sky becomes clear and winds diminish at night, parts of the normally cold spots from northern Pennsylvania to northern New York state may have a touch of frost early Monday and/or early Tuesday morning.

As the cooler air takes hold early next week, temperatures will average 8-15 degrees Fahrenheit below normal.

For example, in New York City during early June, the normal high is in the middle 70s and the normal low is near 60. Highs are forecast to be in the upper 60s with nighttime lows in the lower to middle 50s.

When and where a breeze is active and in shaded areas or during cloudy intervals during the day, AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures may be 5 to 8 degrees lower than the actual temperature.

While the vast majority of the time over most of the region will be free of rain during Monday and Tuesday, chilly air aloft may allow clouds to billow and produce spotty showers during the midday, afternoon and early evening hours, especially over the interior Northeast.

Temperatures are forecast to trend to and perhaps above seasonable levels with highs in the 70s and 80s during the middle of next week. However, clouds and showers may not be far behind the warmup.

Download the free AccuWeather app to check MinuteCast® for exact start and stop times of rain in your area, as well as to see the temperature forecast. Stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.