Lower temperatures to start August won’t last
A cool start to August has put temperatures in the Lehigh Valley more than 10 degrees below average, but forecasters say it won’t last.
Meteorologists say a dip in the jet stream has opened the door to a surge of comfortable air from the Great Lakes into the Northeast and through the Mid-Atlantic region.
Allentown reached a high of just 68 degrees on Sunday and 79 degrees Monday. That puts the average temperature at 64.3 degrees, or 10.7 degrees below normal for the beginning of August.
The National Weather Service said high pressure is expected to remain anchored in place through Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing dry conditions and highs once again favoring the upper 70s to low 80s.
By Thursday, a change in the overall pattern will be evident as temperatures begin to tick up. Winds ushering in cooler air will turn to the south, forecasters say, opening the door to the return of heat and humidity in the Lehigh Valley.
Temperatures leading into the weekend will be pushing the upper 80s to near 90 degrees in many locations, and could be back in the 90s by early next week.
Outlooks from the government’s Climate Prediction Center show models favoring above average temperatures through the front half of the month and beyond. Both the 6- to 10-day outlook and the 8- to 14-day outlook show where temperature anomalies are forecast to be especially noticeable.
Meteorologists at the CPC say the precipitation forecast for the week-2 period is very similar to the 6- to 10day period. One difference is a front predicted to reach the East Coast next week, leading to increased chances of above normal precipitation for most of the Mid-Atlantic region.