WOAY-TV (Oak Hill, WV): Looking into the upcoming weather pattern, you’ll notice that storms move towards New England from our neck of the woods. In the wintertime, some of these will crash into cyclonic storms called Nor’easters that form in the Atlantic. With this in mind, it’s poised to happen in… May. Yes, a low pressure off the Atlantic coast is poised to form into a nor’easter tomorrow. While we won’t be directly affected by it, it’s only the third time in recorded history we have seen a nor’easter in May.
Here’s a look at what the models are showing. The low pressure indicated is the one that will form into the late-season nor’easter that will affect New England and parts of New York state. You may notice the speckles of pink in the mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Yes, that’s potential snow that will show up in those areas. If you happen to have plans to travel to the region tomorrow or Friday for Memorial Day Weekend, you may want to wait.
With nor’easters being predominantly a winter phenomena, why is it happening? Iceland is a part of the puzzle. An unusually warm block of air has been giving Iceland some hotter temperatures. As a result of this pattern, cool air will dip down into the northeastern United States, even affecting us a bit as we deal with a cold front passing through tomorrow. This cool air will clash with the warm and humid air of the Atlantic Ocean, developing suitable conditions for a late-season nor’easter to form.
While this nor’easter won’t directly affect our area, this is a historic event in the world of weather. The last nor’easter occurring in May was during 2008, that being one of two in recorded history before the upcoming event. If you have relatives on the eastern coast or New England, give them a ring and check in on them even if they’re aware of the situation at hand. Our area will still see some of the cooler air dipping down from Canada, so expect some milder days and cooler nights through the end of the work week into Memorial Day Weekend as well.
