Tuesday, August 20th – *A taste of fall in the Great Lakes, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast US…cool weather will result in some low “Home Run Forecast Index” values*

Temperatures will be well below-normal in the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday time period from the Great Lakes/Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic/NE US

A very comfortable air mass for this time of year has pushed into to the northeastern part of the nation being ushered in by the passage of a strong cold front late Monday. There will be the passage of a secondary cold front later Tuesday that is at the leading edge of even cooler and drier air for the Great Lakes, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US. The frontal system on Monday was accompanied by scattered strong thunderstorms and today’s secondary will be mainly a rain-free event. Temperatures on Tuesday will peak in the low-to-mid 70’s along the DC-to-Philly-to-NYC corridor which is well below-normal for this time of year and humidity levels will be noticeably lower than on Monday. High temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday will continue to be confined to the 70’s in DC, Philly and NYC and overnight lows can drop to near 50 degrees in many spots…even the upper 40’s is possible across some of the far northwestern and western suburbs. High pressure that has its origins over Canada late week will station itself over the northeastern states for the bulk of this week. Elsewhere, while the Great Lakes, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast US enjoy this early taste of fall, the western Plains and Rocky Mountain States will suffer through some quite hot weather for the middle and latter parts of this week.

This early preview of fall will help to put a cap on the “Home Run Forecast Index (HRFI)” for a few days in the baseball stadiums from the Midwest to the Northeast. A low HRFI is indicative of unfavorable weather conditions for baseballs to travel and usually an impediment for hitting home runs (and scoring runs). The HRFI on Tuesday may average around a “3” in places like Queens, New York (Mets) and Washington, D.C. (Nationals) for their games and perhaps as low as a “1” at Wrigley Field in Chicago where the wind will be blowing in to go along with those cool temperatures. Meanwhile, farther to the south, the HRFI can climb to as high as “9” for Tuesday evening’s game in Atlanta between the Phillies and the Braves which would suggest much more favorable weather conditions there for hitting home runs (and scoring runs).

Meteorologist Paul Dorian