Helene to unravel over eastern US with days of cloudy, rainy weather

Gloomy weather will pester the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic through early week, thanks in part to Helene. In some locations, rain may be heavy enough to trigger localized flooding.

Showers, localized downpours and low clouds will pester the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic during the last days of September, due in part to Helene, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

Helene made landfall as a powerful Category 4 hurricane in the Florida Panhandle on Thursday night and roared through the interior Southeast with destructive winds and extensive flooding at the end of the week.

By the weekend, the former hurricane will be absorbed by a non-tropical storm over the lower Ohio Valley where it will remain nearly stationary and bring several days of clouds and wet weather. Only when a cold front descends into the Midwest from Canada early next week will the shell of the former hurricane slowly progress eastward toward the mid-Atlantic coast.

Gloomy weather will result in poor conditions for fall activities such as festivals and leaf-peeping, disrupted travel and localized flooding.

"Progressing into early next week, a lack of steering winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere will result in Helene’s lingering moisture to pose a risk for heavy rain and localized flooding across portions of the mid-Atlantic region," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.

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Moist air from the Atlantic Ocean will likely enhance rain intensity across parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey early next week. Major airport hubs such as Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia could be impacted by delays as a result of low cloud ceilings.

According to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter, a scenario in which some places end up with significant flash flooding concerns if there are rounds of slow-moving downpours is possible.

Motorists are urged to use caution on roads as visibility can be reduced and there may be areas of standing water.

On a positive note, part of this region could desperately use the rain.

"Severe to exceptional drought remains in place through much of West Virginia and southern Ohio, so any rain in these areas will be at least somewhat beneficial," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex Duffus said. Drought of varying degrees of severity is ongoing throughout the entire Ohio Valley, where pockets of 1-2 inches of rain may be observed over the course of several days.

Given the hit-or-miss nature of the downpours over the coming days, some locations will likely be hit hard by rounds of heavy rain while nearby towns receive no more than a shower or intermittent light rain.

"By midweek, a cold front will swing through the Midwest and into the Northeast which will finally sweep all remaining moisture off the East Coast," Buckingham said.

A stretch of dry, sunny and less humid days is likely to follow the passage of this front.

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