Sunday Storm for The Northeast Quadrant

Yesterday The Northeast Quadrant posted about warmer, drier weather taking over the eastern half of the nation today and tomorrow. But that will all come to an end on Sunday.

A developing storm system in the gulf states will enter the Atlantic tonight and rapidly re-develop before heading north up the eastern seaboard. This is normally very exciting news in January, but with the recent surge of warmer air, it's sadly going to be a rain event.

Starting in the southern periphery of The Northeast Quadrant, the rain will begin around the Nation's Capital near daybreak Sunday on its track towards New England. Rain will probably enter the picture in the Big Apple by lunchtime and Bean-Town just in time for dinner. These two northern cities are forecasting the rain to mix with sleet and possibly change to snow before ending Monday morning. Wind will also be a factor, as is the case with most coastal storms.

Too bad that arctic air is all gone. This could have been a doozy of a snowstorm, a blizzard even.

40 Never Looked So Good!

At The Northeast Quadrant we LOVE cold, nasty, winter weather... but it's been so frigid and stormy lately, we are welcoming the milder breeze with open arms and lighter coats -- and for now, throwing the hats, scarves and gloves back in the closet.

That's right! 40 (degrees) never looked so good! But listen Mr. January Thaw (see earlier blog post), you better not overstay your welcome!

The polar jet (or the northern branch of the jet stream), which for weeks has dipped into the deep south, is now retreating back into Canada, thus allowing a nice push of southerly warmth to infiltrate most of the United States. When this happens the gates are open for temperatures to climb back to seasonal levels, or even slightly above normal. Within The Northeast Quadrant, from New York to Boston, temperatures into the low 40s can be expected through Saturday, while Washington, DC could rise to 50. This is a region of the country that has only reached 40 degrees once or twice since Christmas.

However, while we're enjoying the outdoors this weekend and feeling a little more comfortable, cold arctic air will be building up in northern Canada just waiting for that strong polar jet to show signs of bending. When it does, it will make it's move and the frigid temperatures and snow will return (we hope).