Drastic Drop in Temperatures Spreading to the East This Weekend 

Posted: April 16, 2023 7:35 am

The string of unseasonably warm days has come to a crashing halt throughout the Midwest and the Northeast this weekend. This chill is forecast to hang on into early next week, leaving millions of Americans with a case of weather whiplash. Some areas of the northern U.S. may even see snow by later in the weekend. Here is the latest.

Record Temperatures Close Out the Work Week

It felt more like early summer for many parts of the eastern U.S. to end the work week. The temperatures hit the 90-degree mark on Thursday in New York City before inching slightly higher on Friday.

Both days came in warm enough to break the record for that day in history. It has been over 20 years that the city saw two straight days at 90 degrees during the month of April.

As the cliche goes, good things never last. This surge of warmth has come to an end as the wind direction shifted over the weekend. In fact, the high temperature readings for Saturday landed about 20 degrees chillier than what residents enjoyed on Friday. The coastal locations saw the cooldown first thanks to the colder air coming in from the Atlantic Ocean.

Interior Northeast Will Experience Colder Air by End of Weekend and Monday

The cooldown will reach the interior portions of the Northeast on Sunday as a cold front comes in from the Midwest. This front will also be responsible for a chance of severe weather in an area stretching from the Mississippi Valley and into the Appalachians.

Portions of the Great Lakes may also get in on some of this thunderstorm action to bring the weekend to an end.

The mercury is already falling across the Midwest and down through the Gulf Coast. For instance, Chicago will see highs in the upper 50s on Sunday after basking in the warmth of readings in the low 80s on Saturday. The dramatic cooldown will also hit major cities such as St. Louis, Des Moines, and Milwaukee.

The mass of cold air will track to the east on Monday, bringing the return of early spring temperatures to the interior Northeast. Monday’s readings across Detroit, Pittsburgh, and beyond will dip to about 20 – 30 degrees lower than Sunday’s temperatures.

The rest of the Northeast will see this dramatic cooldown by Tuesday with readings hovering in the 50s for much of the region.

Snow in the Forecast?

Some portions of the Upper Midwest may even see some snow with this change of weather. The arrival of wintry precipitation will likely feel more drastic in the wake of the summer like conditions of the prior week.

While there is not a big mass of cold air to support this snow development, there may be enough of a chill in place to produce a few snowflakes through late Monday. The greatest threat of snow will happen in Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern Iowa, and Michigan.

Snowfall accumulation of about 6 inches will be a possibility in central and northern portions of Wisconsin and into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Although not many people will be excited for the return of winter weather, the cold air will mitigate the river flooding issues that are currently a concern in the northern U.S. The existing snowpack across this part of the country began a rapid melting last week as the mercury climbed to well above average for the middle of April.

Forecasters are growing increasingly worried about the threat of river flooding along the Mississippi River and the Red River of the North. A brief return to winter like conditions will help to slow down the snowpack melting so that the rivers can take on more water in the coming weeks without reaching flood stage.

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