Heat to build up and down the West Coast

A warming offshore flow will make it feel like a second summer across the western U.S. late this week.

Transcript

00:00 Alright, we have a big warm up coming across the Midwest and the North Central United States

00:05 over the next couple of days.

00:06 And by the way, get ready for a change in the other direction late next week as we're

00:12 going to be watching a series of cold fronts come across the plains.

00:15 And a week from today we could be talking about some snowflakes falling.

00:19 That's right, snow across the upper Midwest.

00:21 But until we get to that, we're going to be talking about the warmth.

00:24 Now, we still have our upper level O.

00:25 Here it is, southwestern lower Michigan.

00:28 That is moving to the east.

00:29 Notice what's going on here behind that upper low.

00:32 A lot of dry air denoted by the yellow shading on the water vapor loop.

00:35 Minneapolis, Des Moines.

00:36 And then we have a frontal boundary back across the Dakotas.

00:40 And out ahead of that front, what's going on?

00:42 A lot of southwesterly winds here.

00:45 Warm dry air in the plains states.

00:48 That's going to start coming east.

00:49 Now, as we head toward the weekend, that upper low moves across Pennsylvania as we get in

00:54 toward Friday.

00:55 Then off the east coast Saturday, high pressure builds in.

00:57 And on the western side of this area of high pressure, what you're going to see is a southerly

01:02 flow.

01:03 And that southerly flow starts bringing in the warmer air.

01:05 Look at the change that you're going to see in cities like Chicago and Green Bay, where

01:09 we're going from the lower 70s, even upper 60s today, into the middle 80s over the weekend.

01:14 St. Louis, you're going to be near 90 degrees beginning tomorrow and lasting right through

01:19 the weekend.

01:20 And we're going to continue to see all of this warmth across the upper Midwest as we

01:25 head into next week as an area of high pressure aloft then builds in the central plains.

01:29 And that area in orange, Omaha, Duluth, Fargo, we're going to be looking at temperatures

01:34 15 to 22 degrees above normal.

01:36 And once you get that high, relative to the historical averages for the high temperatures,

01:41 you're talking records.

01:43 Look at the warmth we're going to see.

01:44 I'm going to take you to Minneapolis.

01:45 And remember, we're in early October by the time we get into next week.

01:50 Temperatures well in the 80s.

01:51 Again, though, here's the big change coming as we get into Wednesday, Thursday.

01:56 And I think there's even a bigger press of colder air than this late weekend over the

02:00 upcoming weekend.

02:01 But until then, high temperatures more reminiscent of mid-August.

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