By John Roach, AccuWeather staff writer

Updated jun. 17, 2020 1:25 PM

What will the weather be like this summer? Find out in AccuWeather’s 2020 summer forecast.

The calendar may indicate that summer doesn’t start until Saturday, June 20, but parts of the country already have experienced summerlike conditions. 

Blistering heat has been swelling over the Plains, with the hot weather expected to shift eastward across the Midwest and into the interior Northeast. And wildfire season got the jump on summer with blazes already consuming thousands of acres in the Southwest. It’s also been “abnormally dry” through the Western states, with pockets of moderate and severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. 

With the official start of summer just days away, here’s a look at the complete region-by-region breakdown of the United States with AccuWeather’s latest 2020 summer forecast. 

Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, eastern Ohio Valley

After a couple weeks of rather dry conditions in the Northeast, summer, which begins with the solstice on Saturday, June 20, will kick off with frequent showers and thunderstorms across the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. That’s similar to the pattern that took hold in the early part of spring in those regions when persistent wet weather suppressed temperatures below normal on most days.

The weather pattern will alternate between dry and wet conditions for those regions, but particularly more frequently wet for the mid-Atlantic. However, the season won’t be a total washout. Plenty of summer heat is poised to move in as the season progresses.

“Heat will come in spurts in the first half of the summer season,” said AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok. “But, as we get into July, I think that’s when we’ll start to see the heat peak, with temperatures climbing into the 90s.”

People enjoy the day playing with water as the Empire State Building is seen from Williamsburg on Saturday, July 20, 2019 in Brooklyn, N.Y. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

Most of the scorching heat will take place in July and early August for places like Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York. The latter part of summer will yield a good chance for heat waves, where highs can climb to 90 degrees Fahrenheit or greater for three consecutive days, although Pastelok said record-shattering stretches of heat are unlikely.

Compared with the summer of 2019, which brought grueling heat at times and above-average temperatures for the season, the second half of summer 2020 is likely to be a little hotter. Temperatures are expected to average 2-3 degrees higher across the Northeast for the month of August compared to 2019 and closer to 1-2 degrees higher along the I-95 corridor throughout August, Pastelok said.

Once the hot weather arrives, the pattern may be tough to shake. Summer heat could persist well into September, said Pastelok.

Central and southern Plains

Past and future rain events can hold back daytime temperatures in the far southern Plains and especially into the lower Mississippi Valley, and humidity levels will remain high. 

“Frequent fronts may get down into the southern U.S., which is kind of unusual as you get into July and August,” Pastelok said. With cooler air prevailing to the north and a more humid air mass fueled by the warm waters of the gulf, parts of southeastern Texas up to Dallas could experience more frequent severe weather, he said.

Meanwhile, southwestern Texas, including cities such as El Paso, is poised for prolonged hot weather. Drought conditions have intensified and expanded from the southwestern Plains north into Oklahoma and Kansas and has led to early hot weather. Hot and dry weather can persist for most of the summer season.