A taste of cool, fall-like weather is coming. Here’s what you need to know

Fall colors near the DuPage County Forest Preserve headquarters in Wheaton on Naperville Road. Paul Valade/Daily Herald, Oct. 23, 2024

Millions of people across the northern United States will soon get a taste of fall as an air mass from northern Canada sweeps across the country this weekend through next week. It should also bring a brief break from hurricane risks near the coast.

Toward the end of the month, parts of 45 contiguous states are expected to experience below-average temperatures for this time of year, following what has been an unusually hot and humid summer - especially at night - for much of the country.

The change in weather is also linked to Hurricane Erin, whose northward movement across the Atlantic into next week will cause pressure cells to reshuffle across the Nor