Powerful storms are expected to descend on the tri-state area Wednesday afternoon into the evening hours, dumping buckets of rain on the region — and threatening to spawn tornadoes — after a mercilessly hot and humid stretch.
The upcoming weather won’t do much for the heat oppression, unfortunately.
Wednesday sees an enhanced threat for severe weather. Check the latest severe weather alerts for your neighborhood here. A heat advisory remains in effect through Wednesday.
During the evening and night, as a cold front approaches, storms will begin to fire in Pennsylvania and Western New York.
They will track east ahead of the front and could produce damaging straight-line wind, flooding and even isolated tornadoes. The Poconos, Catskills and Mid-Hudson Valley will see the greatest risk for severe weather. The severe threat diminishes closer to the coast.
If you live in Pike, Sullivan, Ulster, or Dutchess County, be prepared for severe storms Wednesday night, particularly close to midnight or later.
Farther south, in northwest New Jersey and in Orange, Rockland, Putnam and Westchester counties, the risk for severe storms is still there, but any severe weather will be isolated.
Some storms that fire up Wednesday could be strong to severe, with the main concerns being damaging wind gusts and flooding rainfall, mainly north and west of the city.
The primary threat coming along with these storms is the damaging wind gusts up to 60mph. At that speed, winds can blow off tree branches, knock down power lines, and damage property.
While less likely than damaging straight-line winds, isolated tornadoes are not off the table Wednesday night.
Again, the mountain areas and Mid-Hudson Valley are most at risk. To stay ahead of the storms, be sure you get weather alerts on your phone in case warnings are issued. The NBC New York app is a great tool for getting weather alerts.
Wednesday night’s storms could also produce heavy downpours, thanks to high moisture levels in the atmosphere.
That means isolated flooding is possible. And, once again, the higher elevation areas of Pike, Sullivan and Ulster counties are most at risk.
We’ll continue to keep an eye on flooding potential as we head into the end of the week. Our rain chances become more widespread as we head into Friday, with rain totals through the end of the weekend between two and three inches in some regions.
Remember we said there wasn’t much in terms of good news? Even when temperatures are back in the 80s later in the week, heat indices will remain in the 90s. Stay hydrated and take it easy when outside.
There is almost no relief from the hot temps and humidity over the next 10 days (sorry). We’ve even got another potential heat wave on the horizon for next week.
Track any approaching rain or storms using our interactive radar below.
