AccuWeather's fall forecast predicted a slow start to the colder season, but a sharp pattern change will usher in winter-like temperatures and the first snow for many areas after one of the warmest Octobers on record.
00:00It's going to feel more like December out there for many in the east-central and eastern U.S. as we move into the second week of November.
00:07It's November, but for much of the country, it still feels like September.
00:12The transition to fall in the east is going to be a little bit slower this year.
00:16We've had a lot of warm and humid days over the summer season, and I still think we're going to see above average on warm and humid days going into the start of the fall season.
00:25As we highlighted in AccuWeather's fall forecast, the season would run warmer and linger longer, and that's exactly what has played out.
00:33Many central and eastern U.S. cities log near-record warmth for October.
00:37Most of the time, the storm track or the jet stream's configuration across the central part of the continent often determines if we get into these early snowy patterns or not.
00:48We really have not been under one of those patterns.
00:50That slower shift has kept snow and cold air away, but that's all about to change for some.
00:55We're going to see a much more amplified dip in the jet stream, and that's going to allow some much colder air from Canada and even the Arctic to discharge and head southeast across the mild Great Lakes.
01:07That colder air will sweep across the eastern half of the nation this weekend, delivering the first real taste of winter and likely the first snowflakes.
01:13That's going to produce some lake effect snow for the first time of the season, and it'll also crack out some pretty meaningful snow, even in lower elevations of the upper Midwest and across much of the interior northeast, at least in the high elevations.
01:27So where's the snow? The answer, it's still coming.
01:30The long stretch of fall warmth is finally ending, bringing the first flakes of the season for some, but a longer wait for others.
01:36For AccuWeather, I'm meteorologist Tony Laubach.
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