Weather

Much cooler air will push southward across the Northeast on Friday. In areas of the eastern Great Lakes, New England and the central Appalachians, temperatures will be 20 to 30 degrees lower than earlier this week. Showers will follow immediately behind the cold front.

Hot and humid conditions are expected to remain in the Southeast and in parts of Virginia and Maryland. Spotty storms are expected in Florida and in the lower parts of the mid-Atlantic later in the day.

Farther west in the Upper Midwest and northern Plains, it will be mainly dry and cool. Cloudy conditions, showers and thunderstorms are expected from Texas to the Ohio Valley. Isolated flash flooding can occur anywhere from Texas to New Jersey, but the greatest risk of flooding will occur in the mid-Mississppi Valley. Heavy showers will spread east this weekend.

In the West, most areas can expect dry and sunny conditions except for the eastern slopes of the central and southern Rockies, where there will be spotty storms. In western Washington and some parts of northwestern Oregon, there will be evening showers.

FOCUS: Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence will continue toward the northwest in the western Atlantic. The hurricane may affect Bermuda early next week. Later in the week, the hurricane could threaten the East Coast or it may steer out into the North Atlantic.