4 Things We're Watching in Next Week's Weather

 Jonathan Belles

Published: August 7, 2020

As we head into the middle of August, a sluggish cool front will become a big player in the weather across the eastern half of the nation while the Southwest heats up and dries out.

Here are the things we are watching going into next week:

1. The Northeast Heats Up

Temperatures will gradually warm up this weekend from the Great Lakes into the Northeast.

A weak high pressure system will slowly shuffle eastward bringing with it higher temperatures and lower rain chances.

Unlike heat waves in July, this burst of warmth won't be one to stick around.

The heat will first be felt on Sunday with highs 5 to 10 degrees above average, or afternoon temperatures in the upper 80s to around 90.

Temperatures around 90 degrees will make an appearance on Monday as high pressure hovers overhead. Humidity will begin to return in the Great Lakes ahead of the next cold front, which will arrive Monday night or Tuesday.

Highs will moderate on Tuesday in the Great Lakes as rain and clouds arrive with the cold front, but temperatures will remain warm or even increase some in the I-95 corridor. Highs from DC to Maine will be 5-15 degrees above average Tuesday afternoon with rain and storms arriving late in the day.

Forecast Highs

Temperatures will moderate somewhat in the second half of the week.

2. Extra Break in the Heat in the Country's Midsection

A piece of cooler air will slide southeastward from the Plains to the lower Ohio Valley in the first half of the week.

You're going to have to be in the right spot if you're in the Upper Midwest to get in on this taste of fall, though, because it won't be very expansive.

As the cool front slides across the Canadian border late Sunday into Monday, temperatures will tumble by about 10 degrees from the Dakotas to the Corn Belt on Monday. Highs may be stuck in the 70s across much of Minnesota and parts of the Dakotas and neighboring states.

By Tuesday, the Upper Midwest will return to average while the Central Plains eastward to Illinois will cool off for Tuesday and Wednesday. Temperatures could be held into the low 80s around St. Louis on Wednesday due to a combination of showers and cooler air behind the cold front if the boundary can get that far south.

Much of the region will see mid-80s instead of temperatures around 90 degrees, and these slightly cooler temperatures may stick around as the frontal boundary gets stuck.

Forecast Highs and Cloud Cover

3. Summer Storms in the East

The cold front mentioned in the previous sections will slowly sag into the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic by midweek with a fresh supply of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.

By Wednesday and Thursday, scattered garden variety popcorn showers and thunderstorms could pop just about anywhere east of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

These storms could bring locally heavy rain wherever they pop up, but widespread flooding or severe weather is not expected.

Forecast Highs and Rainfall

The added cloud cover will keep temperatures near average through much of the week ahead. Highs in the 80s and 90s are expected with overnight temperatures dipping into the 70s.

4. A Slowed Monsoon

With a little help from a weak area of low pressure, parts of the lower Four Corners region will be wet this weekend, but that will come to an end as the work week begins.

A stubborn ridge of high pressure will migrate northward into the southwestern U.S. in the week ahead, effectively putting a hold on the monsoon for at least the first half of the week. Temperatures will climb to 5 to 10 degrees above average (or in the 90s and 100s) and winds will become unfavorable for moisture in the Southwest.

A wind flow from the west and southwest typically brings drier air over the region, so a wind shift will be needed to bring more moisture back into the picture. This will likely occur late week when the high pressure system moves north and east.

Rain chances may begin to return as early as Thursday as a more moist flow from northern mainland Mexico returns.

This temporary stop in rainfall is coming as rain has already been hard to come by this summer in parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Drought continues to worsen in much of this region, especially in Nevada and Arizona.

Some locations in California and southern Nevada are having their driest summer on record, while communities further east are having a more average summer despite the growing drought.

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