Chillier Weather Awaits the Northeast This Week

AccuWeather.com Facebook fan Tony D. took this photo of snow covering flowers in Buffalo, N.Y., on March 30. While Buffalo should escape any snow this week, some higher elevations from West Virginia to New York could see a light dusting.

By Bill Deger, Meteorologist

Apr 8, 2012; 2:56 PM ET

After a spectacular Easter weekend weather-wise across the Northeast, Mother Nature may turn the calendar back a month with the new workweek.
Lower temperatures will begin to arrive Easter Monday in the wake of a cold front and look to stick around for a few days.
Combined with an area of low pressure lingering over southeastern Canada, it will be an unsettled period with plenty of clouds and showers at times as atmospheric disturbances swing through the region.
At higher elevations from the central Appalachians to New York, a few snowflakes could even mix in.
The chilly, damp weather could end up ruining outdoor plans for those taking a few extra days off after the holiday weekend.
While temperatures will be lower across the board throughout the Northeast, the cold will not be exceptional. However, this will be the first prolonged period of below-normal temperatures for many areas dating back several weeks.
The mercury will only top out in the 40s across a pocket of interior areas from the central Appalachians to upstate New York for Tuesday and Wednesday, which is as much as 10 to 15 degrees below normal.

Even temperatures in the bigger cities and coastal locations in the mid-Atlantic will barely manage to reach into the 50s compared to 60s over the weekend.
Combined with cloud cover and a fresh breeze, it will feel even cooler yet.
If this were the heart of winter, the atmospheric disturbances would actually paint swaths of snow to the coast. This time of year, any snow from these systems will tend to be more "elevation-driven," meaning it will be mainly confined to ridges and mountains where it will be colder.
The mountains of West Virginia; the Alleghenies and Poconos in Pennsylvania, as well as the Catskills and Adirondacks of New York, stand to see a few snow showers mix in with the rain both Tuesday and Wednesday.
A light accumulation is possible over some ridge and mountaintops, but will likely only last for a matter of hours thanks to the increasingly strong April sun.
While these lingering areas of low pressure are difficult to predict, it looks as though milder temperatures will begin to edge back into the region toward the end of the week as the calendar heads deeper into April.

Chillier Weather Awaits the Northeast This Week