Syracuse, NY – The warm, dry weather period in upstate New York is coming to an end this weekend.
Rain is expected on both Saturday and Sunday, with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon that could bring enough rain to cause isolated flash flooding. The ground is still wet from the heavy rains that fell a week ago from the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby.
“A slow-moving storm system will move across the region
and will bring frequent showers and isolated thunderstorms from tonight through Monday, with locally heavy rain and some stronger storms possible over the weekend,” the National Weather Service said.
The weather service has placed most of upstate New York in the “minor” risk category for flooding this weekend. That’s the lowest of four risk categories and means a 5 to 15 percent chance of flash flooding.
On Sunday, the risk is higher for the Hudson Valley and the Catskills, ranging from 15% to 40%.
Flash floods are a rapid rise in water levels in roads and rivers as a result of intense rainfall.
The remnants of Debby dumped five inches or more of rain just a week ago, and some of that water is still in the ground. That makes flash flooding more likely because the ground can’t absorb as much new rain.
Today’s high temperature will be around 86 degrees Fahrenheit across the Upstate, but will drop to above 77 degrees Fahrenheit over the weekend.
The storm system will last until Monday, with further thunderstorms possible in the afternoon.
On Tuesday, however, a high pressure system will move in from the Midwest and will stay there for a few days, bringing sunny weather and highs of between 21 and 25 degrees Celsius.
Wednesday is the opening day of the New York State Fair and the weather forecast looks perfect: sunny, high temperature 23 degrees.
