Cool temperatures return to Northeast, as Northwest receives heavy rain

Heavy rain, gusty winds and mild temperatures have moved out of the Northeast on Wednesday, replaced by a drier day ahead for the region.

On Tuesday, temperatures reached 60 degrees in New York City. It was 62 in Philadelphia and 55 in Boston. Those temperatures were nearly 20 degrees above average for this time of the year. The temperatures on Wednesday will be closer to what is expected for late January. Much colder air is moving into the region.

In isolated circumstances, new ice jams could form on Wednesday from ones that had begun to break apart.

Wind chills Wednesday afternoon in major cities across the Northeast will be in the mid-30s to upper-20s in New England. It will feel 20 to 30 degrees colder than just 24 hours prior.

It will feel even colder across the Northeast on Thursday with some teens and single-digit wind chills in the morning. It will be the coldest morning in nearly a week for parts of the Northeast.

The cold air will retreat pretty quickly, and another push of mild air is already on the way. Temperatures will rise 10 to 20 degrees at the end of the week across much of the East. Once again, temperatures will be well above average by this weekend and quite comfortable considering this is climatologically the coldest time of the year for the Northeast.

Looking ahead, there are no sustained blasts of cold air in the next one to two weeks. Above average temperatures are likely for much of the East Coast as we head toward the beginning of February.

Storms head for Northwest

A typical, cool Pacific Storm is affecting the Northwest on Wednesday. The rain and snow will move into Northern California, where high winds and heavy snow will make driving through some of the mountain passes difficult.

More heavy snow is expected in the Cascades Wednesday morning with an additional 6 to 12 inches expected in parts of Washington state. Nearly 12 to 18 inches are expected in the southern Oregon mountains and some of the higher peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Wind gusts in parts of the hills and mountains of Oregon today will exceed 40 mph.

Several inches of rain will be possible along the coast line. This region of the country is prone to deluges during winter and therefore flooding should remain rather limited.

Another wet storm will arrive this weekend and bring even more rain and more mountain snow to the region.