Frost to visit interior Northeast as waves of autumn chill continue

Rounds of chilly air will continue to invade the Great Lakes and Northeast and will bring the look and feel of the autumn season for much of the region into next week.

The first widespread frosts of the season will visit areas from the Great Lakes to the interior Northeast prior to the end of this week, just about on schedule, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

The average date of the first widespread frost of the season ranges from late September to early October from the Upper Midwest to the central Appalachians and much of New England. Typically, a frost at this time tends to cause few problems from large-scale agricultural operations. However, it can be more of a problem for backyard vegetable gardens and those who tend to sensitive annual flowers.

As a chilly area of high pressure settles southeastward into Thursday, its effect will be to calm breezes and thin out cloud cover at night. Where wind dies down completely and skies remain clear for several hours, frost may form over the countryside and open patches in suburban and urban areas from the Great Lakes Wednesday night then Thursday night over the interior Northeast.

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While a light frost can help to sweeten certain fruits that have yet to be harvested, a hard freeze can wipe out tomato and pepper plants as well as most annual flower beds. For this reason, it may be time to harvest the remaining items and make up that last cut flower arrangement from the garden.

The frost can accelerate and increase the fall colors in some areas and accelerate the leaf drop in areas where foliage is past peak.

The same pattern will lead to areas of dense morning valley fog and some of that moisture can freeze on windshields in the coldest spots.

In some of the higher elevations of northern New England and upstate New York, the same pattern may allow a few snowflakes to mix in with passing rain showers each day into Thursday.

Temperatures are forecast to trend upward this weekend as a dip in the jet stream retreats. In many cases, another delightful weekend is in store for outdoor activities ranging from walks and jogs to ballgames or a round of golf.

One sneaky batch of chilly air will slide in this weekend over upstate New York and northern New England with areas of frost Saturday night.

As is often the case during the autumn, the weather pattern will quickly change. Yet another dip in the jet stream will set up over the Northeast early next week.

This next plunge may be more substantial and widespread than this week's event, and this weekend, and correspondingly, temperatures will dip more, lake-effect showers will be more extensive and more places may have a chance at getting some snowflakes when compared to this week.

Temperatures will generally be 6-12 degrees Fahrenheit below the historical average during the early and middle part of next week, compared to 3-6 degrees below average this week.

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