FALL STALLS: MANY AREAS SEE RECORD HIGHS
What happened to fall? Wednesday was another day of record heat across much of the central and eastern USA. Temperatures soared into the 80s as far north as New England.
Record highs were set Wednesday in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Providence, Baltimore, Nashville, Charlotte and Raleigh, N. C., some breaking decades- old measurements, the National Weather Service reported.
The cause of the heat was a strong area of high pressure over the Southeast, which was helping funnel very warm air northward, AccuWeather meteorologist Andy Mussoline said.
Even though it’s from a separate weather pattern across the country, Southern California is even getting in on the heat parade.
Temperatures in the 90s and 100s are forecast for the next few days, along with dry Santa Ana winds that could spark wildfires.
For folks in the East yearning for crisp fall weather, a dramatic “reality check” of cooler weather is expected by the end of the week and the weekend, the weather service said.
After another warm day Thursday, a cold front moving in Friday will finally usher a cooler Canadian air mass into the central and eastern U. S.
Rain showers and gusty winds will ac- company the lower temperatures, AccuWeather said. The heaviest rain will fall in western Pennsylvania and Upstate New York, while some needed showers will also fall in New England, much of which remains in a drought.
By the weekend, high temperatures for the East Coast will even be a bit cooler than average, only in the mid- 50s in some areas.
That will be a drastic change from the past few days after more than 250 record temperatures were set across 34 states since Saturday, according to the Weather Channel.
On Monday, Dodge City, Kan., rose all the way to 101 degrees, setting a new record high for the entire month of October, the weather service reported. It was the hottest October day there since records began in 1875 during the Ulysses S. Grant Administration.