Tag Archives: stationary front

NYC Weekend Weather – Columbus Day – Oct 6, 2017

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The first half of this long weekend will continue the warm summer feel we’ve had since mid-week. Some much needed rain arrives Sunday going into next week in conjunction with the anticipated remnants of Tropical Storm Nate. This does literally mean that it will rain on the Columbus Day parade.

Rest of today – mostly sunny. Warm with highs around 80°F.

Saturday – partly sunny, not a bad day though with high temperatures in the low-80s. The stationary front depicted above that’s sitting close to the city will push north of us as a warm front. This will open the door to an increasingly tropical feel with higher dew points and more moisture in the air.

 

Sunday – mostly cloudy. Rain chances increasing in the afternoon with thunderstorms possible. Rain that develops could be heavy with tropical moisture flowing into the area. Still warm, with temperatures in the low-80s. An advancing cold front will push up precipitation partially fueled by Tropical Storm Nate (which is anticipated to make landfall on the New Orleans/Mississippi coastal area this weekend. This precipitation will be moving in on our area well in advance of the actual core of the remnants of Nate.

Monday (Columbus Day) – rain and thunderstorms as the bulk of the remnants of Nate move into the area. Rain heavy at times. Cooler with highs dipping into the mid-70s. With Nate approaching to the southwest of us, we should see more steady rain and clouds, keeping temperatures suppressed.

 

Tropical Storm Nate

Tropical Storm Nate is expected to strengthen into a minimal hurricane after it crosses near or over the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula this weekend and into the Gulf of Mexico. From that point, it’s expected to accelerate towards the Gulf Coast and make landfall in the vicinity of New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta and coastal Mississippi. Even though this storm will pale in comparison to Irma and Maria, it has already claimed 20 lives in Central America due to heavy rains and flooding.

 

NYC Weather Update – Aug 15, 2016

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The scorching heat from the weekend isn’t completely gone to start the week. In general, the weather will be cooler than last week, though we’re still expecting above average temperatures for this period. Luckily, we’ve gotten some rain from the extended period of unsettled weather last week and over the weekend, which is helping to ameliorate drought conditions over the region.

Rest of today – high temperatures around 90ºF with a heat advisory in effect. It would appear that a round of rain and/or thunderstorms is headed towards the area around 8PM tonight.

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Tuesday – a nearly stationary front will allow for some showers and thunderstorms to develop in the region, particularly in the afternoon hours. Only a tad cooler with high temperatures in the upper-80s under mostly cloudy skies.

Wednesday – the stationary front mentioned above will lift north eventually as a warm front. This will set the stage for some possibly strong thunderstorms on Wednesday as a trailing cold front makes its push into the area. High temperatures will again be in the upper-80s with partly sunny skies.

Thursday – with a cold front finally moving through, we should see an end to the rain chance, and temperatures in the upper-80s under mostly sunny skies, but with a drier, less humid feel.

Drought Conditions Improving?

The near-term outlook for temperature and precipitation from the Climate Prediction Center both point to above average trends.

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Despite warm temperatures, the last week of multiple rounds of rain has helped improve drought conditions in some portions of the region. You’ll see in the second graphic below, due to the rains both up to this point and that are forecast, drought removal might happen for much of the Southeaster New York area in the next month. This includes NYC but excludes Long Island, where a severe drought continues.

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NYC Weather Update – May 2, 2016

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This week will be marked by a prolonged period of unsettled weather with a chance of rain basically at any time during the week, giving May a rather dour start. However, the rain is very much needed as we are entering into the growing season with a deficit in overall rainfall. Due to the nearly continuous stretch of cloudy weather, temperatures are expected to be slightly below normal for this time of year.

Rest of today – cloudy and cool with high temperatures in the upper-50s and a chance for a scattered shower or thunderstorm through out the day.

Tuesday – overnight, a more substantial batch of rain will arrive with a wave of low pressure riding up the east coast along a nearly stationary frontal boundary. Unsettled weather continues during the day Tuesday, but chances for rain drop substantially in the afternoon. High temperatures will be a couple degrees warmer, in the low-60s.

Wednesday – we’re going to be sandwiched between the departing frontal boundary from Tuesday and another low pressure system over the Great Lakes. This will result in yet more clouds and a chance of showers during the day.

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Thursday – that low pressure over the Great Lakes transfers its energy to a low pressure that will form off the coast of the Delmarva going into Thursday. Then this coastal low will just kind of spin around aimlessly in our vicinity since it will be cutoff from steering currents. This means it will be the main driver of rain activity towards the end of the week. At any point, an impulse of energy rotating around this low could spin up a band of showers. Temperatures Thursday remain in the low-60s.

Friday – basically a clone of Thursday due to the aforementioned nearly stationary coastal low.

NYC Weather Update – Apr 7, 2015

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This will be my last post for another few weeks as I will be traveling in South America. This week, we have an active weather pattern that will lead to a series of periods of rain. Mid-week, temperatures will be well below normal (mid-40s), but towards the end of the week, through the weekend, and to begin next week, temperatures will rebound to slightly above normal (low 60s).

Today – we’ve already had a round of light to moderate rain pass through earlier this morning. The rest of the day will feature temperatures falling through the 50s, along with overcast skies and a light onshore flow. A second round of rain looks set to hit the area around the evening rush hour today.

High Resolution Rapid Refresh model output for 5PM today.
High Resolution Rapid Refresh model output for 5PM today.

Wednesday – a raw, rainy, and cold day is in store tomorrow. A stationary front (the reason for the extended period of unsettled weather) will push through late Tuesday as a cold front. This will allow for much colder air from Canada to enter the area, which will lead to temperatures only in the mid-40s (10-15º below normal). Periods of rain are likely throughout the day and into the night.gfs_namer_021_1000_850_thickThursday – essentially a repeat of Wednesday, with chances for rain through out the day, and cold, cloudy conditions otherwise. High temperatures again only in the mid-40s.

Friday – chances for rain continue through Friday as a warm front will be approaching from the south. Once this front pushes through, we’ll see a return to milder temperatures with highs in the low 60s (about 5-8º above normal).

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The Weekend – conditions finally begin to improve on Saturday with a cold front having pushed through. Chance for precipitation dwindles, with highs in the low 60s. Sunday is even better with clear skies and warm temperatures near 60.

Warm Trend for Next Week

Climate Prediction Center has our region in an area of greater than 50% chance of above average temperatures for next week. This should translate to pleasant, spring like conditions for next week!

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NYC Weather Update – Feb 3, 2015

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The low overall snowfall totals for NYC yesterday wasn’t so much a problem as the significant icing that resulted from an extended period of freezing rain. Ironically, a week the city government took criticism for shutting down the transit system for blockbuster blizzard that did not come to pass here, it was 1/4″ coating of ice that wreaked havoc on the entire transit system (the hours long complete suspension of the 7 train was an extreme example of this). We do get a couple more shots at snow, once tomorrow night into Thursday, and then again during the weekend, but at this time neither event looks to be nearly as high impact as what we’ve experienced the last two weeks.

Wednesday – will be comparatively mild in the context of the rest of the week and the weather we’ve had recently. High temperatures may actually even hit 40 (slightly above normal). However, as a cold front approaches from the west, we’ll have an increasing chance for snow showers, which maybe mixed with rain at the coast during the earlier part of the evening.

Thursday – chance for snow showers continues along the vicinity of the frontal boundary as it passes over us. Following the passage of that cold front, temperatures take a serious drop as northwest winds allow for Arctic air to make a comeback into the area. Lows overnight Thursday could be as low as the single digits for the city and below zero for outlying suburbs. Coupled with a northwest wind of 15-20mph, this would produce dangerously cold wind chill values.

Generally low snowfall totals expected across the region from this event
Generally low snowfall totals expected across the region from this event

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Friday – high pressure builds in briefly for Friday, giving us the only guaranteed dry day through the forecast period. It will still be cold with highs only in the low 20s.

Saturday – an arctic front will be approaching during the day Saturday, and ahead of the front, we’ll actually about normal temperatures in the upper 30s due to southwest flow. Clouds build in and the chance for snow showers builds during the later part of the day into the overnight.

Sunday – the arctic front mentioned above moves over us but then it looks like it will stall in our vicinity for an extended period from Sunday into Monday. High temperatures will cool to around freezing in the wake of that frontal passage.

At this time, it’s too early to know exactly how much snow we would pick up. It does appear that the precipitation with this system will be generally on the lighter side, except as the low pressure center depicted over southern Illinois in the graphic below approaches the coast. Once it arrives just west of the coast, it could draw in some moisture off the ocean as the counterclockwise cyclonic flow around the eastern periphery of the low induces an extended period of onshore flow (like a sea breeze, except in this case, the air over the water is actually warmer than it is over the snowpack on the land). If this onshore flow is robust enough, it could warm coastal areas up enough to get some rain out of the storm.

Stationary arctic front
Stationary arctic front
You can see the distinct separation between warm and cold airmasses demarcated by the stationary front depicted in the image above - the front separates the areas with the blue dotted lines from the areas of the warm dotted lines.
You can see the distinct separation between warm and cold airmasses demarcated by the stationary front depicted in the image above – the front separates the areas with the blue dotted lines from the areas of the warm dotted lines.

NYC Weather Update – Sept 30, 2014

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The skies look gloomy today, but there’s not a high chance of precipitation as the best dynamics for showers remain mostly offshore and to the east. High temperatures will be a bit above average with high temperatures in the low 70s.

Wednesday the chance for scattered showers will remain with a stationary frontal boundary slow to push south through our region. The best chance for precipitation will again lie to the east, likely well away from the city. High temperatures will be somewhat cooler around 70 with mostly cloudy skies.

Thursday – following the passage of the frontal boundary above, high pressure will build in from the north. Cloud cover should decrease gradually though not entirely clearing, but northeast and easterly wind will lead to cooler temperatures with highs only nudging the 70 degree mark.

Friday should be much the same as Thursday, with high temperatures right around 70 and clouds & sun.

GFS model output for Saturday, Oct 4, 2014
GFS model output for Saturday, Oct 4, 2014

Saturday – the forecast models are unambiguous in anticipating the passage of a negatively tilted cold front through the region (negative tilt in the northern hemisphere would correspond to a frontal boundary where the northern end lies to the west of southern end of the boundary, these types of fronts are often associated with higher levels of instability). Temperatures will be cool in the upper 60s to around 70, with a period of steady showers likely at some point during the day, right now it’s looking like this will be during the morning hours.