Daily briefing: Autumn soaker heads East

Autumn rain and few thunderstorms will be the big story from the central Gulf Coast into the Northeast today. This, and our tropical update, are available at 5 a.m. ET in our daily briefing.

The same autumn storm system that has been slowly moving across the Plains and Midwest all week will continue its slow slog eastward today. The WeatherRadar shows heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms from the central Gulf Coast northeastward across the interior Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast.

This will provide much needed drought relief along the I-95 corridor from Atlanta to Boston, including Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City.

Outside of spotty thunderstorms across the Southwest into the Great Basin, the rest of the U.S. from the Plains to the Pacific Coast will have a sunny and pleasant Thursday.

Autumn remains elusive across the U.S., with highs today surpassing 70 degrees everywhere. The TemperatureRadar shows the Southwest, southern Rockies, Texas and the Gulf Coast into Florida and the coastal Southwest will be hot with highs in the upper 80s and low 90s. Phoenix and the low desert of the Southwest will top out around 105 degrees.

Hurricane Gabrielle is turning to the east and will gradually weaken as it moves across the central Atlantic. It could threaten the eastern Atlantic Azores this weekend.

Tropical Storm Humberto formed late Wednesday afternoon and will move to the northwest over the wide-open Atlantic for the next several days. It could become the season's next hurricane later this weekend far from land.

A third system will need to be watched over the next several days. This one could become a tropical depressions later this week even as it brings heavy rain to the Greater Antilles over the next several days.

Although it has been quiet recently, the Atlantic Hurricane Season is trying to perk up heading into the season's second half. Here is more information to know this hurricane season.