Helene will dissipate over the eastern United States with days of cloudy and rainy weather

Showers, localized downpours and low clouds will hit the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic in the final days of September, due in part to Helene, AccuWeather meteorologists say.

Helene made landfall in the Florida Panhandle as a strong Category 4 hurricane on Thursday evening and raged through the interior Southeast with damaging winds and widespread flooding by the end of the week.

By the weekend, the former hurricane will be absorbed into a non-tropical storm over the lower Ohio Valley, where it will remain nearly stationary, bringing clouds and wet weather for several days. Only when a cold front moves from Canada into the Midwest early next week will the envelope of the former hurricane slowly move east toward the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Cloudy weather will result in poor conditions for fall activities such as festivals and leaf peeping, disruption to travel and localized flooding.

“Early next week, a lack of controlling winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere will cause Helene’s persistent moisture to pose a risk for heavy rain and localized flooding across parts of the Mid-Atlantic region,” AccuWeather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.

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Moist air from the Atlantic Ocean will likely increase rain intensity across portions of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey early next week. Major airport hubs such as Washington, DC and Philadelphia could be affected by delays due to low cloud cover.

According to AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter, a scenario where significant flash flooding occurs in some locations is possible if slow downpours occur.

Motorists are asked to exercise caution on the roads as visibility may be limited and there may be areas of standing water.

On the bright side, part of this region could really use the rain.

“Much of West Virginia and southern Ohio remain in severe to exceptional drought, so any rain in these areas will be at least somewhat beneficial,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Duffus. The entire Ohio Valley is experiencing drought of varying severity, with 1 to 2 inches of rain being experienced over the course of several days.

Since the downpours will be fairly random over the coming days, some places are likely to be heavily affected by heavy rainfall, while surrounding towns will experience only a shower or intermittent light rain.

“By midweek, a cold front will move through the Midwest and into the Northeast, eventually sweeping all remaining moisture from the East Coast,” Buckingham said.

The passage of this front is expected to be followed by a series of dry, sunny and less humid days.

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