For all intents and purposes, this weekend is going to be summer. Temperatures are going to hit 80 degrees as far north as Massachusetts. If pools were open already, it might be a nice weekend to catch some vitamin D. The sun will be out and the trees will be budding. The only way you’ll know it’s only April is the extreme air pollen concentration and all of the allergies that go along with it.
But as it often does, spring will turn on us. Summery temperatures will drop precipitously over the course of a day. In New York City, highs near 80 degrees Saturday will plunge into the 40s. Farther north, daytime temperatures may not get out of the 30s. It’s extreme weather whiplash — typical for the month of April.
A classic, powerful spring storm dives into the Lower 48 this week, and it’s going to upend the beautiful, warm weather faster than it began. Severe thunderstorms will sprout across the South and Mid-Atlantic. Snow will hammer the Upper Midwest and, combined with strong winds, could create whiteout conditions.
It’s a “multi-hazard, multi-seasonal, multiday storm,” as the Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore puts it.
Still on tap for multi-hazard, multi-seasonal, multi-day storm w/SNOW & SEVERE. Event for Friday-Tuesday in which severe threat will be opening act Friday and maybe into wknd. Snow/poss. Blizzard rounds out meat of event over wknd but rain, wind, snow linger into early next week pic.twitter.com/7MYqpzKpz6
— Jim Cantore (@JimCantore) April 10, 2018
The storm is going to be snowy from the Rockies to the Midwest. From Colorado to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, this storm will drop anywhere from a few inches to two feet. The heaviest snow looks like it will target a swath from eastern South Dakota to the Upper Peninsula. Some model forecasts suggest totals will reach at least 20 inches in northern Wisconsin.
The storm will produce severe weather in the South as early as Friday. Through the weekend it will shift east, ending up in the Mid-Atlantic on Sunday. Damaging wind gusts, large hail and tornadoes will be possible in the late afternoon as the cold front approaches.
Behind that front, the winterlike temperatures blow in.
Highs on Saturday will touch 80 degrees in Washington, the Tri-State area and even parts of Massachusetts. It will be 20 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year up and down the Interstate 95 corridor.
After the cold front plows through Sunday, highs will drop to the 60s on Monday. By Tuesday, they’ll be back in the 40s and 50s for much of the Northeast. In Pennsylvania and Upstate New York, high temperatures may reach only the 30s on Tuesday afternoon.
Temperatures will regulate to the 50s and 60s in the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast by the middle of next week, but if you’re aching to do some true warm-weather activities, Saturday is your day.
