Fall’s weather roller coaster is here. While the eastern U.S. deals with temperatures that are below average one day and above average the next, the West is expected to stay toasty with temperatures that are 10-25 degrees above average.
The FOX Forecast Center attributes the divide in the weather to a large dip in the jet stream that has helped lead to some of the coolest air in the East since March. Accompanying the cooler temperatures has been an onslaught of dry air with dew points in the 30s and 40s, making the days feel rather crisp.
“Victoria and Beaumont (in Texas) got into the mid-40s breaking those records set back in 2001,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Steve Bender. “They’re not alone, as we had mentioned. You get into the Ohio Valley region all the way down into the Southeast and the Florida Peninsula, and they’re running about 10-20 degrees cooler.”
Cooler temperatures in Texas will be replaced by record heat with cities such as Houston and San Antonio seeing unseasonable warmth with highs in the 90s.
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As a weak storm system pushes through the heartland, many communities will see warming temperatures just to see the mercury fall below average again as fall’s next cold front pushes through.
Chicago, for instance, will only see two of the next five days with temperatures near or above average.
New York will be the opposite, with two days below and three days above the typical afternoon high of 64 degrees.
While Florida has moderated some from its chill, Orlando and many other communities across the Sunshine State are expected to stay below their typical high for mid-October. Highs in Orlando are expected to remain near 80 degrees instead of reaching the typical mid-80 mark.
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While the East grapples with weather that has forced many to grab their jackets and coats, the western U.S. is stuck in a summer-like regime with temperatures that are some 10-25 degrees above average.
One of the many communities feeling the heat is Phoenix, where temperatures could climb above the century mark during four of the next five days.
A stout ridge of high pressure over the West is not only impacting weather in Arizona, at least half a dozen states are expected to see communities reach record highs.
“We are way above those seasonal averages when it talks about highs in the desert Southwest,” said FOX Weather meteorologist Adam Klotz. “Unfortunately, that’s going to continue. We’re above average in a whole lot of places.”
Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Jose, California and Reno, Nevada, are all expected to reach daily record highs this week.
“So, you’re talking about maybe 20 different record breakers,” Klotz said. “Phoenix at 103, San Francisco in the mid-eighties. Up and down the entire Pacific Northwest. You’re seeing a whole lot of spots in the mid-eighties, which is just unheard of for this time of year.”