Robust storms to briefly slice away heat, humidity in northeastern US Tuesday

 By Renee Duff, AccuWeather meteorologist

Published Aug. 23, 2020 6:23 AM

A refreshing air mass will sweep into the Northeast by midweek, but forecasters say it will come at the expense of some severe weather.

Part of the region was hit by severe weather on Saturday, as violent thunderstorms packing damaging winds and hail swept through southeastern New England.

Another round of feisty storms could erupt across New England and upstate New York on Sunday afternoon, while more general showers and thunderstorms may have those with outdoor plans running for cover elsewhere across the Northeast.

Locally gusty, drenching storms will continue for the start of the week across the Northeast, while a more organized round of severe weather gets underway farther west.

Along the tail end of a cold front, severe thunderstorms are expected to ignite across portions of Minnesota and Wisconsin late Monday, and may extend into Michigan during Monday night.

Damaging winds, hail, flooding downpours and even an isolated tornado or two can occur with these storms.

Since the cooler air behind this front will be thrust eastward as opposed to southward into the Midwest, limited heat relief will be had for places such as Minneapolis and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after the storms pass. In fact, record-challenging heat is forecast to build across the Midwest into midweek.

The bulk of the cooler and less humid air will instead be directed into the Northeast.

"Out ahead of the more comfortable air, a few stronger storms are likely to develop on Tuesday," AccuWeather Meteorologist Mary Gilbert said.

The clash of two air masses, with hot and steamy air to the south and cooler and less humid air to the north, will give the storms a boost in intensity.

"The main threats with any of the stronger storms on Tuesday will be damaging wind gusts and heavy rainfall," Gilbert said.

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Straight-line winds up to an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 65 mph could snap tree branches and power lines, leaving some communities in the dark for a time.

"Although the parched soils of the Northeast will definitely appreciate the rain, localized flash flooding can occur in any area caught under the heaviest downpours," Gilbert said.

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"Following the passage of the cold front, many locations from Maine to Pennsylvania will experience a near 10 degree Fahrenheit drop in high temperatures from Tuesday to Wednesday," Gilbert said.

Temperatures near 90 F in New York City and Philadelphia on Tuesday will be replaced with lower 80s midweek.

While much of New York state and New England will dry out midweek, more storms are likely to sweep from the upper Great Lakes to the central Appalachians on Wednesday.

Additional rounds of showers and thunderstorms are likely across the Northeast late in the week as temperatures and humidity levels begin to climb once again.

AccuWeather meteorologists will be actively monitoring the future track of Laura and whether it could eventually soak the Northeast as a tropical rainstorm towards the end of the month.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.