Parts of the US will feel more like fall for Labor Day weekend

By Jennifer Gray, CNN meteorologist

Before you pull out your bikini or flip-flops for the unofficial end to summer, you might need to pump the brakes.

The Labor Day forecast could be calling for an early start to pumpkin spice drinks.

Why Autumn weather won’t be the same this year

“Once Ida clears the eastern US on Thursday afternoon, a drier air mass will move in behind it and should provide some fresher feeling and cooler temperatures for the holiday weekend, especially in the mornings,” said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.

Temperatures take a dive for Labor Day weekend

Temperatures for much of the Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic and Northeast could be below normal.

Highs will likely be in the 70s for much of the northern tier of the country.

“High pressure builds in behind the remnants of Ida on Friday bringing sunny skies and early fall like conditions to southern New England,” said the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Boston.

“Afternoon high temperatures likely to top out in the mid to upper 70s on these days.”

New York City will be in the mid-70s to start Labor Day weekend, then gradually warm to the upper 70s by Monday.

“After temperatures run a few degrees below normal for Friday and Saturday, temperatures will climb to slightly above normal into Sunday and Monday of next week,” said the NWS office in New York City.

Washington, DC will be in the low 80s on Saturday and gradually warm to the mid-80s by Monday.

Even Chicago will stay in the upper 70s to 80 degrees to start the weekend, with a gradual warmup as well.

Rain chances remain for some

As of Wednesday, the tropics seem to be playing nice for Labor Day weekend.

While we will most likely have something to watch in the Atlantic, the models don’t show anything to worry about with a possible US landfall for Labor Day weekend.

But we could see some decent rain chances in parts of the country.

“Another cold front passes through the eastern half of the US over the weekend, which will bring some showers, but will reinforce the cooler air,” said Miller.

This will bring showers to the Great Lakes and portions of the Ohio Valley on Saturday.

By Sunday, these showers will push into the Northeast and New England, putting a possible damper on plans during the middle of the holiday weekend.

Monday looks pretty quiet for most of the country. We could see a few scattered showers for portions of the Deep South, but nothing severe at the moment.

The heat continues along the Gulf Coast

Labor Day weekend will be filled with more painstaking work and cleanup for residents along the Gulf Coast.

Hundreds of thousands will likely still be in the dark, with no power and no air-conditioning.

While the weather seems fairly quiet with only scattered storms for the weekend, the heat will continue. Lows will remain in the low 70s, with highs close to 90 degrees.

Will the West get any relief?

“The western half of the country, however, will still feel like summer, with temps 10-15 degrees above average and dry conditions,” said Miller.

The West is battling wildfires of biblical proportions, such as the Caldor Fire. The fire, which was only 20% contained Wednesday, according to Cal Fire, has burned more than 200,000 acres. And it is expanding at a fierce pace. It has forced more than 53,000 people to evacuate and threatens more than 34,000 structures.

As we go into the weekend, the role weather will play on the fire activity is still up in the air.

“Wildfire activity is the unknown factor at this time,” said the NWS office in Reno, Nevada.

“Afternoon breezes will be lighter and could increase the chances for worsening smoke and air quality for areas north of Lake Tahoe into the Reno-Sparks area as daytime mixing works smoke aloft from the neighboring wildfires down into the lower valleys.”

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CNN’s Aya Elamroussi and Joe Sutton contributed to this article