10/05 Ryan’s “Little Warm” Wednesday Forecast

The last few days have been a little warm, and while we’ll see further gradual warming over the next 2-3 days, another round of “fall-like” weather is expected as we end the week. As Hurricane Matthew continues to approach, the ridging in the NE intensifies, causing our local center to increase as well. This will cause some compressional heating and will allow temperatures to creep back up to the 90 degree range just before the weekend. Then, a weakened cold front will move through the area between Friday and Saturday but won’t have much moisture to work with so only a slight increase in clouds is expected with little to no rain. We’ll begin seeing temperatures in the upper 70s and lower 80s through Sunday and Monday (Columbus Day!), with only gradual warming expected through the middle of the week.

Matthew continues to worry residents of the East Coast, and seems to be heading in Florida’s direction as it moves through the Bahamas as a strong Category 3 storm. This storm is expected to ride the coastline throughout the next 4 days, keeping its weaker left side over land. However, if the storm deviates slightly toward the West, the coastline will see much more significant damage, but if it deviates to the East, only tropical storm force winds will be felt. While that may make it difficult to know what sort of damage to expect, you can bet storm surge and strong storms will be felt either way. Evacuations have already been ordered as far North as the Carolinas and Hurricane watches and warnings have been issued for much of the SE coast. This storm’s interesting development may also bring it back around for a second pass at Florida days after its first, with a chance it may pass into the Gulf. That chance may be small, but it’s enough to remind us not to let our guard down even though we’re in the latter months of the season and things are cooling locally.