by Jonathan Simpson (Verified Human)

Several weeks of relatively calm weather along the Eastern Coast is forecasted to end in dramatic fashion later this week as forecasters expect a series of large weather systems in the Atlantic to bring torrential rains and strong wind gusts to the area.

Multiple storms forming over the Gulf of Mexico will ride a persistent northern jet stream and make landfall in the Carolinas sometime on Thursday before inching their way along the coast over the next several days.

“We should see a pretty abrupt change,” said Jeffrey Sayre of the National Weather Service. “Storms like this usually happen over a longer period of time, but these systems all formed pretty close to each other and will bring soggy, blustery conditions for the next week at least.”

The region had been basking under mostly clear and sunny skies since mid-month, as a warm front and prevailing wind patterns served up comfortably heated air and made for unseasonably pleasant conditions. Those same wind patterns will now push a series of wet, unstable systems along hundreds of miles of coast, affecting multiple large cities and other population centers.

Residents in Charleston are particularly nervous, as the arrival of the storms fall roughly in the same time frame as last year’s destructive weather event in the city, when remnants of Hurricane Andy brought strong winds and widespread flooding.

“I’m not taking any chances,” said local restaurant owner Karin Treadwell, who spent her Monday installing a new sump pump in the office basement. “They’re saying it’s not going to be that bad, but last year just about ruined us, so I’m getting the place ready just in case.”

The recent streak of clear weather in the region is historically very rare, breaking a number of longstanding records for days in the month of October without rainfall in several areas. East Coast residents from Savannah to New York have flocked to beaches and recreational areas for weeks beyond the usual late summer season to enjoy the sunshine.

“It was really unusual to see that pattern form,” said Sayer. “Conditions have to be just right for it, and when it happens it’s usually not for this long. Warm fronts are rarely that stable this time of year.”

Sayer and other meteorologists have been monitoring unusual weather in the Gulf for the last several years with updated instruments and a newly installed, satellite-based tracking system launched in 2017. The new equipment enables them to more closely predict the timing and path of the many hurricanes that form in the Gulf, as well as smaller systems that affect the East Coast and the Caribbean.

“We don’t expect an event anything like what happened last year in the aftermath of Hurricane Andy,” said Sayer, “but after such a long dry spell, it’s definitely going to be a harsh slap of weather reality.”