Cold bone dry air is sweeping through the Midwest, South, Southeast, Mid Atlantic & Northeast US

Photo byNational Weather Service

We are in a very unusual weather pattern in that the weather across the US is mostly on the dry side. Except around the edges in Northern New England and the Pacific Northwest, the rest of the country is quiet and calm. We have a strong northwest flow and a deep trough in the Eastern US that is spreading cold Autumn air across a large portion of the US east of the Rockies. The seasons first frosts and freezes occurred from the Plains to the Midwest. The next two nights we will see frosts and freezes from Maine to Georgia. Freeze watches and warnings as well as fronts advisories will be going up.

Drought Monitor As of October 8th on the left, October 1st on the right.Photo byNational Weather Service

The cold dry weather pattern is actually taking a bit of a toll across the US, 75 percent of the country is experiencing at least abnormally dry conditions. Nearly 5 percent of the US is experiencing extreme or exceptional drought including areas in West Virginia and Southeast Ohio. Two major hurricanes, Helene and Milton have wiped away dry conditions in the Southeast and Florida but at quite a cost given all the destruction we have seen.

Photo byTropical Tidbits

We do not see any major changes in the dry weather pattern for the rest of the week and through the weekend. The cold high in the Eastern US which is bringing widespread lows in the 20s and 30s from the Great Lakes to the Appalachians will eventually move out as the core of the cold air heads east. High pressure will rebuild into the Eastern US. It will keep things dry through at least Sunday and temperatures will rebound late week and over the weekend. Again we have no major storms or minor ones in sight and the tropics do not appear to be an issue for the US.